CDT Day 99 (8/25/23)

Miles 2375.8 (Red line 2720.2)- 2399.7 (Red line 2744.1) (23.9 miles)

Verbatim

It was quite the full day. A hero in and out of Augusta, which seemed unlikely in theory. I hitched with two super nice boomer Republican men. Mike and Craig? They were of the opinion of Trump, “If anyone can go through the shit he has and still be fighting, he’s our man. The greatest president of my lifetime!” It was a car ride. haha. I hitched back with a 23y/o named Noah. He works for Stan Kroenke (Liverpool’s owner) on one of his many ranches. Noah joked that he watched his coworkers with the NBA last year. haha. Noah studied land management, and is restoring a stream on Kroenke’s ranch. His friends take Kroenke fishing, haha. Noah dropped me off 8.5 miles short of where I needed to be, but soon enough a truck came along and gave me a back of the truck hitch. The back of that truck at 5mph in the Autumn cool on a washboard dirt road was some of the most fun I’ve had this trip. I sat on a 48 piece package of water bottles. That may be a ton of plastic waste, but it was actually a really springy and cushioned seat.

I learned today, on both hitches, that Grizzlies are plains animals! More at home amidst the cottonwood riverbanks than the mountains. The old boomers said that’s where most of them are now; terrorizing farmers and ranchers alike with their lack of fear and ravenous hunger. They said one neighbor had a Bear hibernate in their barn all winter. They also described that if it warms enough the Bears will come out and quit sleeping. Even midwinter. They mentioned they don’t have the winters they used to. I asked about that. They said there’s global warming, just not “that” global warming. It’s not fuel and CO2 particulates, it’s just between the ice ages warming. thumbs up

I bought a lot of food today. And it doesn’t all fit in my backpack. So, I’m carrying an extra grocery bag including three bags of chips. Big bags mind you. I was also served water in a plastic cup with a straw today at the bar I ate dinner at. What the hell? They weren’t serving beer in plastic cups. The bag I stored my couscous in split at the seam in my backpack. It was upside down. So, I suddenly heard the sifting of sands from within my bag behind my head. A horrible sound. There are little couscous grains all throughout the plastic in my bag. Tomorrow I’ll have to clear them all out… Here’s to hoping they don’t get damp and then rehydrate. When I set up camp tons of grains came out with each item I withdrew.

I saw a male Grouse today! I guess I haven’t been seeing any male Grouse. I thought I had, but now know I was wrong. This was a big boy, and was puffed up and fanned out to intimidate me. He looked much like the females but had a highlighting of white notes and streaks. Really stunning.

Also, can confirm that what I say yesterday was a Badger. I looked it up. :)

Post Note

I’ve mentioned it before; but all you coastal elites should go thruhiking if only to find yourself at the mercy of the people who feed you. Hop in an hour long hitch with Mike and Craig and manage your experience of safety while they describe their worldview to you. It’s a great time. At one point during the ride I described myself as a “Bernie boy” from New England. I meant that as a sort of disarming maneuver, because I thought that I could provide a bit about my social location while using humor, especially the word “boy”, to mitigate confrontation. It didn’t work. These were American “men”. You know, older white dudes who long to be John Wayne and think Reagan was a hero and worship Trump. They wanted a fight. But I don’t fight. At least in my better moments I don’t fight.

I found the best way to constructively engage (and by “constructively engage” I mean generate some mode of actually challenging their worldview) with “men” like this is to listen 99% of the time and then leave them with one note of a moment where you exert some small encouragement towards reconsideration. People want to hear themselves talk (why else am I blogging?) and don’t really care about what you think. So, let them not care what you think for the whole car ride by not telling them what you think. You can just use reflexive statements to offer back to them the exact wording they said. Exact wording is important, because even though you might not have any idea what they’re talking about (this is especially pertinent in long political or theological rants) when you repeat the same words back to them it makes them think you know exactly what they’re feeling even though you don’t. Because you’ll often be repeating harmful words, make sure you house your reflexive statements in an inquisitory tone of voice. For instance, “Really? You’re saying ____ is the cause of your problems?”. The ranter always picks up from right where they left off after you use a reflexive statement. Eventually, hopefully, they’ll run out of steam and figure out that they should ask you a question. It might only happen once but don’t rush it. Always wait for it. It will come. If it doesn’t then they’re so self absorbed they’re hopeless anyways. Ok maybe not hopeless, but at least not ready for anyone other then themselves. When, and only when, they ask you a question make sure you repeat everything you can remember about what they told you, to show them you really were actively listening, and then destroy them. haha.

The best way to destroy them is to just simply tell them what you think in as few words and as concrete language as you can muster. Don’t say negative things about what they said. Just say positive statements about what you believe. Let them do the work of recognizing the discrepancy between the two of you. You don’t have to do that for them. It’s important to say things simply and concretely. People don’t understand what you’re saying otherwise. Remember, you are an emotionally and cerebrally intelligent Self in this conversation. You are choosing to be an adult. And don’t try and prove or support or rationalize what you just said! That’ll ruin it for sure. You’re not trying to make them change their mind. Minds only change from the inside. So, again, you’re not trying to make some logical or factual trump argument that “wins”. Winning is missing the point. Instead, your task is really simple. All you’re trying to do is create a discrepancy in their perception of you which will challenge them internally. You’re offering them a moment inside where they say, “Wait. What? How can this person who listened to me so well, who made me feel so understood, think and feel differently then me?”. Then you hop out of the hitch and say “thanks you’re so wonderful for driving me here have a great day bye!” and then walk away. You leave Mike and Craig with dropped shoulders and twisted neck watching you walk into the corner market wondering “what just happened?”. Then they take that moment forward into their lives and probably don’t change at all but at least they felt understood by someone different then them for the first time in forever and that conflicts with what they’re going to watch on Fox that evening. thumbs up

Then you walk into the corner market feeling really tired and unsure of how much food to take on this next section or how it’s all going to fit in your backpack and then you sort of just stare at a peanut butter jar for a while. You notice the end times paraphernalia on the counter and the one pamphlet about the recent fire in Hawaii and how it’s a conspiracy that some liberal dude published a book about the fire only two days after the fire and learn that there was a recent fire in Hawaii. You stare at that for a while while the lady behind the counter gives an approving nod. Eventually you buy food and walk out to the bench outside the store and stuff it all in your pack and it doesn’t fit so you carry the chips in another bag. Then you walk to the bar and get chatted up by some really hurting people and you wonder why there’s such a high concentration of distrust and pain in such a small little town. You sip water from a plastic cup.