I was a little late to the Napoleon Dynamite fan club. My husband had told me it was my kind of movie, but I was busy having and raising children, and just did not take the time to watch the movie for a while. But when I did, I discovered a movie that made me laugh for no reason, really, much like The Princess Bride.
Somewhere along the way I came to have one of those white ‘Vote for Pedro’ t-shirts in my possession. I did not really wear it out anywhere, but it made its way into the pajama shirt rotation. However, one day my husband came home for a quick lunch and I decided to take advantage of those minutes of free babysitting to run a few errands. I just happened to be wearing my Pedro shirt, so I threw on my Crocs and headed out the door.
My first stop was at the post office. There was a line, and it was moving slowly. People started talking to each other, as those pesky extroverts tend to do and enjoy. I was steadfastly avoiding eye contact (this was in those lovely pre-electronic rectangle days), when the guy beside me asked, “Why should I vote for Pedro?” This made my heart smile, and without missing a beat, I said, “Because he offers you his protection.”
“Protection from what?” the curious bystander asked.
Oh, no. He was not a Napoleonhead. And apparently no one else in that line was, either, although they all seemed suddenly invested in listening in on the conversation. No phones, remember? It was a simpler time.
“Just protection.”
“But from what? Where is this election?”
“Oh, it is just a high school thing. Somebody running for office there.” I figured it was best to just try to slip out of the conversation. I still am not sure why I didn’t just say it was from a movie.
“Which high school, because I don’t need my kids at a school where they are in need of protection.”
And I was reminded of why I don’t tend to interact with random strangers in post office lines. I just kind of mumbled that it was in another state (which was true), and was most likely visibly relieved when I was called up to the counter. Overall, I was not the best ambassador for the Pedros of the world.
I then went across the street to the grocery store, making the most of my remaining minutes, when my heart sailed again as I heard these words from across the parking lot:
“Cool! Napoleon Dynamite! I’ll definitely vote for Pedro!”
Faith in humanity, or at least my place in it, was quickly being restored. Then, as he came closer to grab a shopping cart, he said, “Wow, you are older than I thought. I didn’t know middle-aged women would wear something like that, especially in public. Cool.”
Yep, that’s me. Cool to the bone, and still laughing at that memory many years later.
(Could laughter and joy be its own type of protection, especially in times when we need to be protected from those who are voted into office?
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