One man walking.

Today is a beautiful day. Sun shining down,hot, nagging the seeds that I planted, into youthfulness, fulfillment.
Grass, green, fragrant, begging once again to be taken to my desired length. A day of joy. A time of peacefulness, zen-like.

A neighbor comes to talk. We discuss the weather, the plants, the lawn, his unemployment.

"Please, do you have anything I can do?" he says.

"Kevin" , I answer, "No. I am so sorry.'

(History: My wife and I own and operate a "mom and pop" cleaning business. I also do magazine layouts and do ad design.)

We hug, two 58 year old guys, in need of a shave, hugging in the street. We cry with each other, this is not what we thought would happen.
Not to us, not here, not now.
We had dreams of the future, good dreams, great dreams. Dreams that were reality, so we were told.

He's divorced, now living in his son's home. I'm next door, scrapping to get a dollar, successful, in my eyes, but scrapping.
We live in a mobile home "park". Can't explain why they call them "Parks", "Villas" etc. No parks, no villas, swimming pool, oh yea!
But we are here, we live, we love, what more do you need?

He comes from a $300,000 lake front home. (foreclosed). I from a 90 acre farm. (Centennial farm closed for taxes)

We seem alone in our misery, yet together. Then.....

We saw one man walking. Walking up the street with an unequaled abandon. A look in his eyes, I have never seen.
That one man was joined by another. Walking further, they were joined by a third, then yet another.

Passing by, the group cajoled, "Join us?" "Why," we asked.

" We are going to take this country back", they enjoined. "We are going to fight for the rights of you and me"

"What is going on in this country is just wrong" , one said.

"Oh, are you Teabaggers? If so, I don't want any part of you guys", Kevin commented.

"No, not teabaggers, just everyday American's, pissed off at not being listened to. We are going to be heard." one said.

"Pissed about being dismissed, pissed about being lied to, pissed about being shut out in this country.
We are what made it great, we are the backbone, the blood, the nerves. We exist no more, we are the unheard.
We demand to be recognized." he continued.

"Angry at the very people we support, being against us, using us for profit, profit only. Not caring about us, our children, our future.
Angry about not having the proper support in our lives, health care for example, jobs as another. We demand more. We demand to be heard", he was endless in his encounter.

"We gave up rights. We give up our hard earned dollars to try to change the status quo. We try, we fight, we write our leaders, all to no avail.
"We are constantly blasted by stupidity, saying that's what we believe! No, it's not! We believe in what we were taught, the all American meme, you can be
whatever you want to be, rise up, work hard, be, ........ " He went on and on as he assailed our beliefs. He did say things I believe in, he said things I wanted, I cried at the forfeit of ideals.

One man walking, joined by another, then there were two. the two joined by equal numbers, and then yet again and again. One man can make a difference, one man can change others.
One man can. One man can make others think. One man can, one can.

K&R.