That Was Unexpected...

In my last post I talked about a vehicle I would see coming into the middle school parking lot every morning with a lot of stupid and marginally offensive bumper stickers.  The point of them was that Trump Is My Daddy and I Hate Liberals.  I fantasized about plowing into the back of the vehicle to take out the bumper stickers.  

So...a few days later I had a few minutes before my afternoon route from the time I filled up my bus and when I had to get to the school for afternoon pickup.  I stopped at the parking lot across from the gas station and was walking over to get a Dr Pepper, when who should pull up aside me but the Trump Woman and her horrible billboard?  "Are you a bus driver?  I wanted to stop and say thank you for all your hard work driving these kids.  My father was a bus driver, and I know how hard it can be."  And then she drove off.  

I gotta confess, I was not expecting that.  Over a year of fantasizing about plowing through the back of a car, and now the driver of that car that projects such hostility and rage speaks a word of kindness.  Who would have thought that was coming?  

I suppose the answer is the old cliche, that you can't judge a book by its cover.  Of course, if the book has a cover of a bloody robot destroying a handful of newborn kittens, you're not going to expect it to be a love of story.  How does somebody who intentionally promotes herself as a person of such rage then turn out to be a not-so-bad person of kindness?  

Maybe it's a lesson that shows the importance of being consistent in our words and deeds.  Because, for all I know, she might have driven off from me to go to a Trump rally that night or drive through the streets of our town looking for people of color to report to ICE.  I still see that vehicle almost every day and though I know she had a moment of kindness, I still don't trust her.  It only takes a moment to speak a kind word; it takes thought and consideration to put up that many terrible bumper stickers.  She might well be a nice person at times...but her soul is likely still dark as night.  

Middle School Pickup Line Dreams

There's an SUV I see leaving the middle school almost everyday.  It's a fully MAGA-approved vehicle, with a bumper sticker for almost every grievance.  The sticker that stands out the most identifies the driver as Christian.  Conservative.  Straight.  It then follows with a question about whether anybody is offended about this.  More than a few of the stickers use a lot of vulgar language about the intelligence of liberals or socialists or whatever else the owner heard about at some Trump rally.  There's also a big sticker with a hot cartoon blonde holding a beer and screaming Trump Woman.  I've seen the driver...definitely not hot.  But my favorite sticker goes something like, "If after the last year of Joe Biden's sh*tshow you still want to hate Trump, you're a f*cking moron."  Since I've seen that on there now for at least the last two years, I'd be curious to get her take on the last 18 months of the Trump administration's accomplishments.  

As I get stopped at the light right behind her in my giant middle school bus I sometimes dream about the trouble I might get in if I should happen to rear end the SUV and destroy all her precious, precious stickers.  The schadenfreude I might get from doing so probably isn't worth the scratches on my bumper or especially the chewing out I might get from my boss.  But most importantly, I'm not going to do this because I suppose we all need to realize that there's still that 38% or so of Americans who still can't see clearly.  Were they wholly cowed at the foolishness they have driven into maybe we'd forget that they they are there, and even here in Red State America the number of red hats and blue Trump flags (with the requisite "F*CK YOUR FEELINGS!" subtitle) seem to have diminished.  But they're still here, and that's important to keep in mind.  

I suppose I am offended, to her delight, at these stickers.  But not how she might imagine: So here's a woman who thinks of herself a Christian.  Probably loves the idea of Christian nationalism.  Thinks that Trumpy and his administration are doing God's work.  Should I see her SUV parked at Wal-Mart, I'd be tempted to put a note on it.  "So, you're a Christian?  Sorry, I didn't realize that the definition of Christianity has changed, whereby crass vulgarity, a delight in ticking people off, and worshipping an orange deity moved to the top of the creed.  Just wondering how on earth you create the 'Biblical' worldview that's shown on the back of your vehicle.  But hey, I'm sure that in your mind you feel assured in your holiness by the hour you spend at church every six weeks or so.  Good job, I'm sure you are creating the fruit of the Spirit everywhere you go, and I'm sure that you're going to be reaching your friends and neighbors for Jesus, even if it's not the Jesus we read about in Scripture.  Again...thumbs up!  Have a blessed day."

I don't know what to think about our country anymore, but the most depressing thing about it is the downfall of the Christian witness everywhere you look.  I used to think that we were about a half-century behind western Europe in our dismantling of a Christian worldview, but I think we've gone down a very different course, thinking we are yet Christian when in fact those things that some count as Christian are completely and wholly unChristian.  Sometimes I see much different bumper stickers with genuine Christian witness, but even then I am increasingly suspicious about how genuine their faith is.  And am I any better?  Does my contempt for my fellow believer show just how far we have all gone wrong?  

Maybe I won't be the one who rams into the SUV.  Traffic has gotten far worse in front of the school, and it would be a cryin' shame for somebody to wreck all that sweet, sweet hatred.