Wed, Nov 25 2009
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Mike Pound: What the Fourth was meant to be I remember several years ago when my Aunt Ev and her daughter, Pam, were visiting. My wife was showing them pictures of the previous year’s bike parade and Ev turned to Pam and said, “See, this is what they do in small towns.”
She was right. It is what we do in small towns. It’s what folks in small towns have been doing for years. Thursday night, after the parade was over, after all the neighbors were done talking and all the food was put away, a few couples and their kids gathered in our back yard. While the kids ran around the yard acting like, well, kids, the adults sat on the deck and talked some more. For a while three of the female people on the deck got into an animated discussion about hair conditioner. I looked over at Sam, who was sitting next to me and asked him what sort of conditioner he used on his hair. He told me he didn’t know. Chuck and Mike, who were also on the deck and sitting near me, didn’t know what kind of conditioner they used, either. Later, the conversation turned to politics. Shannon, as always, expressed amazement that I was a liberal. I think Shannon has seen a liberal in captivity but I don’t think she has ever seen one in the wild. While we talked about politics, everyone on the deck laughed. It’s nice to talk politics with someone you don’t necessarily agree with and still be able to laugh. I think that’s the way it used to be, but sadly it isn’t now. I think some people have forgotten how to disagree with a laugh. I think some people have forgotten what it’s like to go to an old-fashioned Fourth of July bike parade. I think some people have forgotten what it’s like to walk with a child struggling to keep her bicycle up right. I think some people have forgotten what it’s like to live in a small town. I hope I never forget what it’s like. And I hope Emma and her friends never forget. Maybe, just maybe, when Emma and her friends are adults, sitting on a backyard deck some warm July evening, they will occasionally disagree. And be able to laugh about it. 
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