More of a rant than anything else, if you'll indulge me. I'm a truck driver, and I've got something to say to my fellow truck drivers.
Look, I know we have a reputation for being "tough guys" and, in a lot of ways, we are. We sacrifice time with our families to feed our families and keep America moving. We slog through crappy weather through places where trucks have no business being in the name of doing our jobs.
But there's more to being a tough guy than hard work and sacrifice...
Being a conservative does not make you tough. Being for war, for "killing them all and letting God sort 'em out," does NOT make you a tough guy. Calling something you don't understand "bullshit" and spouting talking points you heard on right-wing radio does NOT make you a tough guy.
For instance, it would have been much easier for me to punch that guy in the kisser up in Idaho Falls, ID when he said, "I don't want to hear any of your liberal bullshit" when I asked the waitress if the television got CSPAN, while it was currently tuned to, what else, Fox News, as it is at most truck stops, than to do what I did, which was to turn to him and say, "Look, you and I do the same job for a living, and I've got the truck outside to prove it. I'm on your side. I have YOUR best interests at heart (pointing at the screen) THEY DON'T!"
Who's the tough guy? The guy with the hose at the civil rights rally, or the guy getting the hose and able to forgive the man wielding it because he is, after all, only following orders? Who's the tough guy, the hippy getting beat up by the pigs while protesting for peace, or the guy giving the cops the orders? Who's the tough guy, the cop in his riot gear, or the girl holding out a flower to them as they advance, getting sprayed with pepper spray? Who's the tough guy, the Roman that could wield the cruel whip, or the humble son of a carpenter who allowed him to nearly flay him alive and then nail him to a cross?
If you think it's easy being a peacenik, if you think we're soft, I've got news for you, buddy. Try becoming one of us for a day and see what we're up against. The graffiti on truck-stop bathroom walls saying "kill all liberals." The ranting chowder-heads (like YOU, Mr. Idaho Falls, ID, who thinks it's liberal to watch CSPAN for fuck sake!) making us feel uncomfortable everywhere we go, fighting back the urge to fight back when we feel threatened, instead offering the olive branch of peace, these are not easy things to live with or do.