signs

Last fall, we bought a townhouse in what is pretty much the bible belt of Portland. This initially seemed harmless, as we knew that residing in what is barely still considered the city, even though it more resembles rural country land in most spots, was the only way we could afford to buy a house and still remain in Portland proper. (Having been raised in the suburbs from age nine on, the thought of living in the "official" suburbs just churns my stomach). We knew that we were leaving an area where we were in good company with regard to political and philosophical preferences and that we would be venturing into the unknown.

Given the sheer number of churches that dotted the area, it was our guess that this area was somewhat conservative and that we'd be living amongst some folks with whom we disagreed when it came time to exercise our rights each November. But, given the numbers that Portland churns out each election, it didn't seem like it could possibly be that bad...or could it?

When turning onto the street where our newly purchased home sits, the first thing one is likely to see is the bumper sticker on our neighbor's white car. It reads: One Man. One Woman. Yes on 36, a nod to a recent anti-gay marriage initiative that passed by a small margin.

A few weeks ago, an SUV-type vehicle turned on a side street a couple of blocks from where I live. It had a sticker in the back window that said: ACLU and the 'C' was turned into a hammer and sickle and then underneath that it said: Enemy of the State. While I'm not entirely certain what the hell this was supposed to mean, I was pretty sure that it wasn't good and I'd also venture to guess that the driver of this gas guzzler didn't care too much for people like me.

Then today, I was driving alongside a pickup truck that had a sticker of a confederate flag in its back window. I remember feeling somewhat shocked upon noticing this and it sort of frightened me. Who are these people? Do they really stand behind the implications of such emblems? And what do they really mean by these statements? A part of me wanted to ask the driver about it just to satisfy my curiosity, but I didn't because I'm not sure that I really wanted to know.