So that pick-up truck, a picture of which I posted yesterday? Today in my child’s school’s car circle I ended up waiting right in front of the owner of the truck’s house. Bumper stickers on the truck include:  “Stand up for America. Be American.” “Don’t sell out to the NAACP. Fly it!” (indicating the Confederate flag) “Don’t tread on me.” The truck owner seems at minimum, put upon, and at worst, angry.

The home faces the school’s field and covered Physical Education court. What does the truck owner think of the kids at the school? It’s a pretty diverse school given the overall homogeneity of our area, with children of every color, including ones represented by the NAACP.

It’s unfair to assume the truck owner is uncomfortable with people of color. But it’s the assumption I make. I assume because I fear what he (I’ve seen him, definitely male) thinks, and in a fit of frustration or anger, could do when he looks at my daughter. She’s a beautiful girl of not-obvious color.

As I sat in my car, waiting in car circle in front of his house, I almost hoped he would come out of his home to get in his car. I imagined myself rolling down my window and introducing myself, saying how annoying it must be to have to deal with all of us in car circle in front of his house. For all I know, he’d tell me, “Aw, it’s not so bad, this is a great school…”

But his bumper stickers didn’t say, “I love free speech” or “I appreciate an icon of a regional entity that ceased to exist over a 130 years ago.”

So after all my imagining, I kept my windows rolled up and sunglasses on. The guy just scares me.