Posted by So I headed down to McDonalds for some free wi-fi and their $1 all you can drink soda bar (it’s a cheap way to rehydrate) after my ride today, and so I’m sitting there surfing the internet and these two guys behind me start talking about wiring, and specifically how this one guy was told to join up a white wire to something, and how he knew it was wrong.
As this conversation started, another guy sat down at the table beside me (I mean 50cms away), pulled out his phone and wallet from which he pulled out a huge pile of business cards and started making phone calls.
Over the next 20 minutes I learnt that he believed his son was killed by Colorado policeman six years ago, that he had spent 260 days in prison in protest against some decision made by a corrupt court regarding his son, that the entire police force in Colorado were out to get him and he was scared to go back there.
I learnt this because he was calling lawyers trying to get someone to take his case to the Federal Supreme Court, because apparently the church had also banned him from attending his place of worship, and were suing him for something (I never quite understood what) and he felt that this was an infringement of his constitutional right to freedom of worship.
Most of his calls were pretty short.
Anyway, after 20 or 30 minutes, he went off and got a drink and then sat back down next to me, and well he got agitated. I mean his whole body was shaking and his leg was bouncing up and down and he just started to emanate pent up frustration.
Earlier today I was pummeling down slickrock so steep and long I never really knew if I’d make it until I hit the bottom and started rolling up the other side… it was terrifying, and yet I was still smiling the whole way. That kind of fear is fun.
Sitting in McDonalds, I was suddenly scared, and it wasn’t a fear I liked. I started to shut down my computer and had to ask him if I could get past so I could leave. He was distant but courteous as he let me out of my little corner, and out the door.
It was a huge relief getting out of there, it may have been irrational, but that is the most scared I have been for as long as I can remember.
I did note as I was leaving my table that the two guys behind me were still discussing that white cable … how can you discuss wiringin in a white cable for over thirty minutes? That is also terrifying.