Another Day At the Races

I suffered a shock while I was at the office today. I found out that there are indeed some West Virginians who are awful, rotten, racist jackasses.
At around 3 o'clock, a pickup truck roared past the office with a squeal of tires, a blast of the horn; the driver, mature and thoughtful man that he was, shouted, "Fork Obama!" Or something very like it. I stuck my head out from behind the curtain that partitions the office and said, "I doubt, sir, that you're his type."
Such maturity. I'm so ashamed. *sigh*
The second shock I got today was that the women who think highly of the.. um.. VP pick for a certain elephantine party... aren't actually figments of someone's imagination. One of them came into the office today to register to vote. I was in the back printing out more walk-lists when I overheard a very cheerful voice announcing that someone liked... this person. I sauntered out from behind the curtain and said sweetly, "Did I hear someone say they like Sarah Palin?"
Claudette*, who was helping the woman fill out the registration form answered that yes, this lady did like so-and-so. I looked at the woman and smiled.
"Do you mind if I ask why?"
"She's just so personable to me. She's just like the rest of us, the kind of person you could sit down and have a cup of coffee with."
My first thought was, And so was MUSSOLINI.
Instead, I asked, "If, god forbid, something should happen to John McCain while he's in office, do you think she would be qualified to run the country in his stead?"
Dead silence. It would appear madame hadn't thought that far ahead, let alone even considered the possibility. I further pointed out that Ms. Palin seems disinclined to remember the events of the Women's Rights Movement--if it weren't for that small blip in history, she'd never have been a governor, let alone a city council woman, and certainly wouldn't be doing what she's doing--and also seems uninterested in people's civil rights... aside from.. a certain amendment to the Constitution.
The conversation then veered to why the woman felt that voting was against everything she believed in. This struck me as odd, since even that kind of statement expresses an opinion, so I asked her to elaborate.
"I'm completely against the war, you know. I've lost a lot of relatives over there."
I pointed out that, as this is obviously a serious concern for her, she might consider voting for that very reason. If nothing else, opposing people who continue to favor certain behaviors will give her a chance to express that concern to the powers that be. I left her to mull that over for a while, and just as I got back behind the curtain I heard her say she was registering as a Democrat. I won't say I had anything to do with it, but at least I put in my two cents.

The good news, though, far outweighs any bad stuff that happened today. I got a box in the mail from a certain friend who lives in Florida. *ahems* Miss Rachael, you rock with absolute and total style. She sent me a jar of her homemade fig preserves with--squee!--vanilla. I am so looking forward to trying it! She also sent me a skein of handspun yarn in the most amazing shade of blue (she spun and dyed it herself. Most impressive, young Skywalker). I'm floored. The texture is fabulous. The color is fabulous. AND IT'S CORRIEDALE! And.. and... I'm in a state of woolly ecstasy.
She also sent me Season 3 of Supernatural. Ooooh, I'm looking forward to that, too. Gah... figgy jam, gorgeous yarn, and a new way to get my Brothers Winchester fix.
Miss Rachael, you rock. With style.

* The names have been changed to protect the owners' privacy. ;)