City of Legends

Back when I was quite young, early teens, I had a paper route.  Back when alarmist TV shows and paranoia had not yet paralyzed American culture.

My favourite customer was a man I called "The Republican".  I won’t give his real name here.  But I called him "The Republican", because that is what he was.  Deep dipped in the image and label at a time when the Republicans weren’t abusing the Consitution by getting into bed with the Evangelicals. 

We used to have long, complex talks on politics.  I was a Democrat with slight left wing tendencies (I backed Humphrey in 1968).  He felt that you should never vote a straight ticket unless it was Republican. 

He told me once about how his son was an undercover agent for the federal government, busting drug dealers and their suppliers.  He and his wife used to tell me that he was not welcome in their home, as part of his undercover work required he have long hair and look like a drug user and they wouldn’t allow that in their house.  They were proud of his accomplishments, but ashamed of his appearance.

Later on, years later, when I had my brief flirtation with the Republican Party during the Reagan Administration, I though about him.  I never knew what he did for a living, or where he was from or even what church he attended, but I could tell you his political affiliation.  He was The Republican.

My mom called this morning to tell me she saw his obituary in today’s paper.  He was 90.  I wonder if he ever reconciled with his son, ever voted for a Democrat.  I wonder how he weathered Watergate and the dismal failure of Reaganomics (a word not even coined back when we spoke).

But, he was an honorable man, an honest man.  Perhaps a bit primitivist in his motives and attitudes, perhaps looking at the world as a far simpler place than it really was and is, but he was a decent fellow.

Good night, Republican.  Sleep well and dream of a time before Carter and Clinton and Obama.  Your dreams would be my nightmares, and much the reverse.  But I can still thank for, in all the time we spoke of great national and international issues, you never treated me as a 13 year old kid.

That was important.