Just wanted to share a conversation I had with an idiot today, and vent about one of my biggest pet peeves ever.
I was at a restaurant waiting in line to grab some late afternoon lunch, and the two guys in line behind me were having a loud conversation about--of all things--Joe the Plumber. They were talking about how they couldn't believe Barack Obama would have told Joe that he was going to "spread his wealth around." One said, "I mean, this guy's only making 250 thousand, and Obama says he's gonna raise his taxes?"
The other guy--Asshead--says, "Yeah, I couldn't believe that. Everybody should get to keep what they make. That's what I hate about Democrats--they always want to punish success. It's unpatriotic." Now here's the part where I turn around and address the Asshead...
"You really think it's unpatriotic to pay taxes?" I ask.
He looks at me, surpised, a tall, middle-aged jerk in an ill-fitting suit that he probably paid way too much for at Brooks Brothers and a perma-smug look on his face--typical D.C. type. "I think it's unpatriotic to raise taxes on successful businessmen, just because they're successful."
"But don't you think that success is because those businessmen--and women--live in America? Don't you think that living here and working here has given them a pretty unique opportunity for success and that they owe something back to the country?" We're getting a few looks, now, but I'm pissed and I really don't care.
Asshead looks a little uncomfortable with all the attention. Probably more comfortable operating in smoke-filled backrooms. "You'll understand when you're older and you get paid more," he says to me patronizingly. "You'll want to keep the money that you earned. You'll want your kids to have it, not the government."
This is too much for me. I'm probably a good ten years old than he thinks I am, and I probably make a lot more than he thinks I do. "You know what I want for my kids?" I say. "I want good roads and bridges that don't collapse and public parks, and clean water, and decent schools to send them to. I want them to inherit a country that isn't so fucked up by the Republicans' policy of letting everyone keep their own money that we no longer have any infrastructure and we no longer take care of our children or our old people or anybody at all. And for your information, I make a decent amount of money and I don't mind paying a decent portion of it to the government. In fact, I think paying taxes is the most patriotic thing I do all year. It sucks to give away money, sure, but I look at taxes as an investment in the future of my country, and that is what patriotism means to me."
The guy's friend looks super uncomfortable, and Asshead looks like he might explode, but, but he just shakes his head, condescending as John McCain. "You liberals are so naive." Yes, this is his only rejoinder. Bravo, Asshead. Bravo. But I have a parting shot--maybe not very mature, but I can't resist.
"We may be naive, but we're going to be the ones in charge in a few months. And with Barack Obama, succesful people are going have to start giving back, whether they like it or not. So you conservatives had better get used to it."
Then I turn around and stand in line for another five minutes, totally embarrassed and pretending not to hear the guys talking about me and laughing, but also kind of proud. I don't normally engage people in public like this, but I cannot stand the Grover Norquist crowd. I think they're deeply, horribly unpatriotic. And they've done so much in the last eight years to ruin this country. They just make me see red when they get going.
Of course, what I really should have said was, "If you don't like this country enough to help maintain it, then maybe you should leave." You know, the verbal equivalent of sticking out my tongue. But then I would be no better than they are.