Saturday, December 9, 2017

A Recent Encounter, Part 2

     After I found the house where the blasting radio was, I slowed my car and stopped in front of the man's driveway.  He was dreamily wiping down his pick-up truck, obviously intent on listening to the radio host's diatribe.  I rolled down my car window and tried to get his attention.  "Um, sir?  Uh, hello?  Hi there -- sir?"  That went on for over a minute, and although my car was blocking his driveway, he was completely oblivious to me.

     So, I turned off my car and got out.  Took a deep breath.  Slowly and calmly walked toward the man.  (Why didn't I take the time to change into better clothes?)  I was about six feet away from him, and stopped to try to get his attention.  Spoke again.  Waved.  Waved some more.  So I approached another foot or two.  Finally, the man noticed me.  He frowned and reached over to turn down the radio.

     "Um, hi.  I was wondering if you would mind please turning down your radio?  I can hear it from inside my house on the next block."

     A grunted, "Really?"

     "Yes, it's really loud and I was wondering if you could turn it down."

     Another guttural "Really?"  He was emoting annoyance and some of the anger he had absorbed from the radio show.

     "Yes, sir, I was just asking for a little peace in our neighborhood.  It would be nice if you could turn the radio down, please.  I appreciate it."  I could tell I had overstayed my unwelcome, so I turned on my heel and left.  He muttered something that included an overused profanity, and I muttered back (I'm not proud to say), "Same to you, buddy."  And with that, I left.

     But during the last part of the exchange, I noticed something.

     To be continued . . .

   

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