Awkward Conversation
I Find Common Ground With a Stranger in the Most Uncomfortable Way
I stop near Tupper Lake because there’s a Winnebago that’s been converted into a taco truck sitting there, and it’s orange and has peppers painted on it and I’m not even hungry, but by God I’m going to eat a taco from that truck!
I place my order and step back to wait with another guy a few years older than me. He’s wearing a t-shirt that has some gear and tool emblem or something on it.
“You a Bills fan?” he asks and points his chin up at my baseball cap. I’m wearing the cap with the Buffalo outline on it. Not a Bills hat. Meena got me the hat because my hiking trail name is Buffalo.
But I say, “Used to be, I grew up in Buffalo.” I remember that I’m in New York and everybody in this part of the state is a Bills fan.
“Those were the days when I was a kid,” he says. “Jack Kemp at QB!”
“Little early for me,” I say. “But I did meet Kemp when he was a politician. He came to speak to my Boy Scout troop. I remember him being an ok guy.”
The man nods. We watch the lake for a couple minutes. Then he says, “And O.J. was a heck of a scrambler.”
He just let’s that sit there for a beat. I feel obliged to not leave him hanging so I tell him something I haven’t talk about in decades.
“When I was a kid,” I say, “my dad got us end zone seats and O.J. scored a touchdown and I leaned over and he high-fived me.”
He nods. I nod.
“I mean, there’s no possible way back then we could know…” he trails off.
“Nope,” I say.
“Nobody then knew what he’d become.”
“Nobody,” I say.
He shakes his head. The taco guy calls his name.
“Well, good to meet a Bills fan,” he says. “The name’s Dale.”
“Dan,” I say.
Dale gets his tacos leaving me to an orange taco truck by a Adirondack lake remembering a 45-year-old high five.
Housekeeping: Friends, I hope you’ve been enjoying these little episodes as I travel around the Adirondacks hiking to fire towers. It has occurred to me that these entries haven’t really been about fire towers at all and I hope you’re ok with that! Anyway, I’ll be here for a few more days. As always, thanks for stopping by and you can do me the biggest favor by sharing Day By Day with anyone you think might have an interest. I love continuing to build our community and want to keep it free. Cheers!
I love this story. Wish we could all find common ground.