Driving Across the Country

I drove from Denver to New York and back in my new car. In less than a week I drove a little over four thousand miles. I needed to bond with my car. We are truly bonded. Getting my wheelchair in and out is a snap and my little fuel sipper averaged 36 mpg on the trip.

Random thoughts as I drove across the heartland without a satellite radio meaning I listened to a lot of bad country music, right wing talk radio and even worse religious talk.

Billboard in Ohio: "When you die you will meet God. You have been warned". 

Talk radio in Iowa: "Elizabeth Warren is a radical whose socialist agenda is designed to destroy all that America stands for. She is amassing hundreds of millions of dollars to run for president. We can't let that happen. Socialism is the enemy of this nation. She is more dangerous and leftist than Bernie Sanders. Trump and Pence will make America great again"

Talk radio in Nebraska: "Democrats want to undermine our faith and belief in God. Religion is under attack and the leftist Democratic Party wants heathens to pour into our country from Mexico, assault our women, and destroy our churches. We are under siege"

Laura Ingraham: Of course I know who Ingraham is. I have read many of her controversial statements and know she is a so called ardent nationalist who is a vigorous supporter of Trump. I also know she has a radio program. It is one thing to know these facts and another to listen to her spew hatred and disinformation on her radio show. I was shocked by her lies and the venom directed at gay people and immigrants. After 30 minutes I was so flabbergasted and disturbed I changed the station. Bad music or silence was preferable.

Add for an unnamed political candidate, Indiana: "Candidate is endorsed by the NRA and is a gun owner. Candidate will protect the rights of the unborn and will broker no assaults on religious freedom. The candidate served honorably in the airforce. He is a leader of God faring men. If you love this country and want to defeat radical democrats this is our man."

Gas station in Ohio. I am being stared at as I pump gas by two men in a 1960s era pick up truck covered in mud. They have a conversation about how they now let anyone drive. They appear to be offended by my existence and the fact I am driving a Honda. Clearly unimpressed with me and my driving ability they discuss how to get to their destination without getting on the interstate because they let people like me drive.

Checking in at a cheap motel: Me: "Do you have a wheelchair accessible room". Desk clerk: Who are you with? Where is your caretaker?" Me: "Do you have a wheelchair accessible room?" Desk Clerk, confused and a little annoyed: "I think so". After looking at a computer screen for a long time, looking beyond me and outside as though he is expecting a caretaker to arrive finally answers yes.

Cheap motels: Wheelchair accessible at national motel chains is iffy at best. Days Inn, Baymont Inn, Red Roof Inn, Super 8, Microtel, etc. accessible rooms range from very accessible to not accessible at all. I had an accessible room with a roll in shower that had a step to enter the shower. All rooms I stayed in did not have the bathroom towels, iron, ice bucket, hanger rod etc. were within reach. The motels pools had wheelchair lifts. 50% of the lifts were broken.  

Thanks to ADAPT: In one of ADAPTs first national efforts in the early 1980s was to convince all McDonalds to be accessible. The initial reaction from the McDonalds corporation was predictably negative. Fast forward to the present day and McDonalds food may be terrible but I knew with certainty any and all McDonalds bathrooms were accessible.

Local Museums in Iowa: Two little museums in Iowa were an oasis of fun. The Iowa Museum of Aviation is a wonderful small museum that displays historic aircraft. The museum's collection concerns Iowa aviation and its archive is first rate. The Bob Feller museum was a hoot. Feller grew up in rural Van Meter, Iowa and found himself as a 17 heard old playing professional baseball. He threw a fast ball over 100mph. I cannot imagine the culture shock he experienced leaving Iowa for New York and forging a Hall of Fame career with the Yankees.

Nebraska and Colorado. The speed limit is 75 mph. I was content to drive in the right lane at 80mph. Cars were blowing by me at over 100mph.

All of middle America. Giant pick up trucks abound. With gas at $3 a gallon what does it cost to fill up these beasts.

My drive across America was educational. I learned in a visceral way why Trump was elected. There are millions of angry conservative, white, Christian, rural Americans who are afraid of change. The white bubble in which they live is changing. This change is perceived as an attack on their lives. In Iowa I heard a lot about hog and soy bean prices but thrown in with such news was a healthy dose of fear. Anything and everything outside the United States is suspect. Trump has tapped into middle American fear with simple statements--the most famous of which is "make America great again". This is meaningless rhetoric to me but to rural residents in middle America and conservative Christians this is exactly what they want to hear. There is no need for education. No need to Google and learn. Indeed, there is an anti intellectualism that is deeply disturbing. The answers are obvious and need no explanation.  I felt this. My kind are not wanted. Oh yes conservative Christians love to pray for me but they deeply resent special education, accessible rooms, pool wheelchair lifts, accessible buses etc. I am as threatening symbolically as any non white person. As such, I was referred to as "you people" daily at gas stations and motels across the nation. I was openly stated at every time I put gas in my car. More than ever, I am aware I live in a little bubble here in Denver.  I am equally aware we have a national problem fostered by Trump. We have elected a demagogue who has all the answers and any person or organization that defies his pronouncements are an "enemy of the people"--his words not mine. These are truly troubled times.