It’s time for true confessions. My husband is downright embarrassing. Sometimes it’s hard to admit I married the guy and I’m thankful we have different last names so people don’t automatically connect me with him. Case in point – his van. If you’ve ever seen it driving around the valley, then you know what I’m talking about.
It’s an old blue van that’s well dinged up. In years past when he’s been hit by other cars, he just keeps their insurance money and forgets about getting any bodywork done. It’s takes the stress out of having a nice vehicle that’s so vulnerable to the carelessness of others. It’s the opposite of a status symbol for him – it shows the world his priorities are not wrapped around his possessions. OK, so this part of him I like. His van serves the purpose of getting him from point A to point B, and that’s good enough for him, but it’s the attachment he put on the roof that makes it look as if a clown should be driving it
Kory, my clown, took it to a whole new level a few years ago when Sarah Palin was making the news with all her talk of the Tea Party. He liked what he heard and unfortunately, discovered a very large, old teakettle lying around in our garage. It struck an odd nerve in his brain and he decided to stick it on top of his van, to show his support for the Tea Party movement. I wasn’t in agreement with this unique way of making a political statement and begged him to take it off. He refused.
He then upped its absurdity factor by painting a five-gallon bucket with red and white stripes and blue stars lining the rim and placing the teakettle on top of that. It looked like a parade vehicle and I was sure it was a temporary thing. But I was wrong. Because he got such passionate reactions from others as he drove his Tea Party van around, it only egged him on further.
He didn’t care if he got a thumbs up or flipped off, he was happy he sparked some emotion in people over it. That’s the kind of guy he is.
This past year he “enhanced” this eye-sore of a political statement by constructing a new plywood base for the five-gallon bucket/tea kettle monstrosity to sit on. He stenciled words around the sides of this base to even further make his point. “Individual Freedom,” “Fiscal Responsibility,” “Limited Government,” and “TEA – Taxed Enough Already,” leave no room for wondering how he feels about governmental policies.
The fact our son, nor I, will be seen riding around in that van, doesn’t affect him one bit. Lately, he says, people have stopped flipping him off and he only gets “thumbs up.” Many wave from sidewalks or take photos of his van from their cars. He’s now considering the installment of LED lights for when he drives that thing around at night. Lord, help me.
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