ISawArkansas

274

Glad the garage was open for conversation on Sunday. Without it the last week of craziness could have taken us hostage.

We talked about craziness. We called it smartness.

“What do you think it means to be smart?” I asked him.

“It means using your intelligence and experience to make things better,” he said.

“Better? Hmmm. Yeah, no, doesn’t that just mean the way you want things to be? You’re an old man in an old garage in a community older than Eureka Springs, hanging out with an old neighbor. Is it possible that your view of the world is old? Jaded? Stark?”

“No! Wait one. I have run a motorcycle shop, raised a family, kept my mower in tip-top condition and my skinny white ass out of jail. I was in the Army and did stateside work during the Vietnam Era. I qualify for the free license plate. I have records of every fuel fillup in my pickup since I retired from a career of public service.”

“Sure, those are good things. But if everyone did things your way, we’d faint at how much we’ve spent on gas in the last forty years. If everyone kept their grass putting-green short how could the clover feed the bees? Where would the copperheads hide?”

“Does it mean I’m not smart if I do my dishes right after I eat because someone else impressed on me that’s how to keep a clean house? Does it mean I should forego a monthly haircut? Not tuck in my shirt? The way I live works for me. I like the military. And I read a lot.”

“I’m just saying smart isn’t about doing what we’re told or taught. Smart has that ‘it’s fun to out-smart someone’ thrill to it. Smart has some outlaw to it. Clever, witty – milking those features makes life tolerable when horrible things happen to good people.

“For instance, when political decisions are made in the name of religion. We were taught that the two shouldn’t share a bed. Religion insists the congregation be one way and politics demands it be another. One is about faith, the other is about faith. Faith that there’s a reason for religion and a reason for politics. When those two share a bed, or a treasury, a congress, a cathedral, we can clearly see that there is no bonus in wanting to change it. ‘Smart’ morphs into obedient.

“Smart people have decided that money is clearly more important than morality. We allow nearly anyone to buy a great big gun that holds lots of bullets in case someone smart couldn’t or didn’t talk them down. In case they heard a voice we didn’t hear. In case they just plain feel they don’t fit.

“Joe Biden wants Colombians to spray cancer causing glyphosates on the coca crop so Americans won’t have access to an addictive drug. But pharmaceutical companies can sell all the opioids, whether they come from faux poppies or not, they can manufacture. Addictive drugs. We’re adults who can’t even choose our poisons!”

He leaned back. We were quiet. A pair of mourning doves played in the yard while a squirrel stole their seeds.

He’s a good man. He knocked on the door when he came to the office today to bring me the Sunday crossword puzzle. He had his mask on. Me too.