1. Based on the condition of the rest stop restrooms, particularly in Washington State, we are on our way to becoming a third world nation. These facilities are nasty. Not cleaned nearly often enough. They smell. There’s water (?) all over the floor. We were reflecting, as we walked back to our car looking for puddles to clean the urine off the soles of our shoes (this is, by the way, why many people ask you to remove your footwear on entering their homes), on the delightfully clean rest stop restrooms in Iowa and other midwestern states. Surely Washington wants to be as clean as Iowa.
2. It’s not my imagination. Americans are getting fatter. Young people, especially young women are huge. Maybe this is why SUVs and PU trucks sell so well. We need larger vehicles to haul us around. Plus we need big rigs to haul all our stuff. Years ago when none of us had any stuff, we could get by with a car with a trunk. Now, we all have so much junk, and we insist on carrying large amounts of it wherever we go; we need carrying capacity.
3. Everyone has a cell phone. Cars passed us where two or more people in the same car were talking on the phone. Of course it was Sunday. Free minutes on Sunday.
4. Those “Support the Troops” yellow ribbon stickers are appearing more frequently. We were recently in Vermont and I did a scientific survey of “Support the Troops” yellow ribbon stickers. Nineteen percent of the passenger cars and pickup trucks in Burlington, Vermont sported a sticker. Oregon and Washington don’t have that high a percentage yet, but it is rising. What I want to know is, “What does the sticker mean?” Is there any significant portion of the population who doesn’t support the troops? I support the troops. I once was a troop. So, why does one need to put a yellow ribbon on their car telling everyone else to support the troops? My fear is what they really mean is “Support the War.” That would be the war in Iraq.
5. The food in mini marts will kill you. If it doesn’t kill you it might make you fat, cause you to want to talk on a cell phone constantly and pee on the rest stop floor while you’re supporting the troops.
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