The Last Two Democrats in Missouri

Just back from visiting my ailing, brilliant grandfather in Missouri. 40 years of smoking and still blames his esophagus and lung cancer to the war- which may be true, since he was discharged for the asmtha he picked up while laying tar for new runways in Algeria and Italy.

At one of the local buffet restaurants, we ran into this friendly bearded fellow. My grandfather said the two of them were the last two democrats in Missouri.

The buffet was awesome for 6 bucks. I saw a young woman there who was so cute and dressed so urbanely it made me homesick. Girls like that are few and far between in the flat, rural midwest.

People in the midwest really could not give a shit for Hollywood, or our New York culture, or anything. Strange how still the TV commercials reflect the culture of the coasts.

The world between the coasts is so radically different. People drive to each other’s houses just to sit in chairs, drink soda and say hello. Yeah they eat like utter crap, but they like it. They like keeping their tax money. They have jobs, they buy shit, they live and die. They like that just fine, too.

They don’t think about other cultures. They don’t aspire to make great things. They don’t get off on the fruits of their labor. They sit around tell stories about their childhood, about mutual acquaintances, about illness and trauma and near-misses and shared opinions and advice.

It wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t so damned ugly. Joplin’s downtown is mostly unused (near as I can tell), but no one seems to care or talk about it. The Wal-Marts and malls and stuff work just fine for them all.

I don’t know what the last two democrats in Missouri talk about. I got up for more catfish and spinach.