I was raking the pine needles out of the spring sprouts of the hosta in my yard this morning when a guy drove by and gave me the middle finger salute. To assure himself that his message had been received, he flipped me off again through his back window. At first, I thought, boy, that guy really doesn’t want me raking the pine needles from around my hosta. Then, that doesn’t make any sense. He must be objecting to my cultivation of hosta, which is an invasive species. I was momentarily pleased that here was another advocate for protecting native flora and fauna of Minnesota. I want that too, even if I plant hosta. But the rage puzzled me.
To what was this fellow objecting? He didn’t stop to elaborate on his concerns. Hold on, I thought. Pickup truck. Angry, rude, white man. He must be responding to my Black Lives Matter sign in my yard. (Please forgive me my own stereotypes.). But that didn’t make sense either. I understand being upset that someone is importing invasive species, even if they are the handsome variegated kind. (I attach a picture.) Maybe it was the pine needles. The western capercaillie, for example, feeds solely on conifer needles during the winter months. Maybe this guy was an advocate for western capercaillie. (I also attach an image of western capercaillie, for those unfamiliar with the bird.). That’s cool, I thought. How many passionate advocates for western capercaillie are there?
But, alas, no, I accept that he was unhappy that I valued Black lives. What was he hoping to accomplish with his gesture? When I do something, I usually have an objective. For example, I remove the pine needles from among my hosta because I want to lay down fresh brown cedar chips so that the front of my house is pleasing to look at. (Could he have objected to houses looking nice? Nay, evil hasn’t ravished anyone’s heart to that degree.) Was he hopeful that I would take down my BLM sign? Did he aspire to removing from my soul the value I place on the lives of Black people? Was he eager to see me advocate for the removal of the last lines of the Pledge of Allegiance, “with liberty and justice for all”? Or did he dare seek the Holy Grail of all white supremacists: that I would vote Republican? I will never know because he drove on, perhaps on another mission of mercy and justice. How I wish he had pulled over and shared the wisdom and desires of his heart. I fear we have missed an opportunity, as Robert Kennedy said, “to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world“. Oh, the humanity.
