The last last word on Alabama

There was one more thing I’ve been meaning to add about my trip to Alabama for the election. Lord knows Alabama has its issues, but man, those people are Nice with a capital N. I’ve been all over the country, and the mid-westerners give them a run for their money, but in the end it’s no contest. These are the nicest, friendliest people in America. Black/white, rural/urban, rich/poor – nice all.

The morning after I got back I was biking to school, and I was stopped behind a car at a red light on a small feeder street – my small feeder street, in fact. A fire truck was taking a left turn onto the street, and he couldn’t get around the turn unless the car in front of me backed up. So he just stopped there staring down at the woman in the car and finally just said “You wanna back up?!” And then he looked at me and said “You wanna move so this woman can back up?!” Just real nasty-like.

Now of course, it’s no trouble for me to get out of the way. And it’s a fire truck for heaven’s sake, the man is putting his life on the line to keep me safe from harm. And add to that the fact that the fire station is half a block from my house, and everyone knows you don’t s*** where you live. But I was just filled with resentment over the fact that this guy couldn’t just be nice like the folks I’d just left in Alabama, and shortly before moving out of the way, which again, wasn’t a hassle at all, I responded honestly and directly to his question: Did I literally want to move? No.

The stream of obscenities that fell from his high driver's side window as he completed the turn was really not nice at all, and the cycle continues. In at least this one way, it’d be great if we could learn from Alabama…