One man’s freedom is another’s brown mound

On a recent fine fall day, the phrase “in common” came to have special meaning to me.

As I stepped into a crosswalk at an intersection, a large black pickup roared through just a few feet in front of me. Quite considerate of the driver to take off when he did, don’t you think? Why, if he had delayed a couple of more seconds he would have run right over me.

As I turned to perhaps give a salute or get the license plate number, I noticed a bumper sticker that read “born free.”

“What a coincidence!” I thought to myself. “Fancy that. It’s a small world, because I, too, was born free.”

As I continue my walk, it turned out that I was going in the same direction as this gallant knight of the black metal steed. As I passed the library parking lot, I realized that he had parked his pickup there. My gaze fell again on his bumper. He had many stickers. I noted one that read, “I’m a patriot and I love America.”

Wow! Another extraordinary coincidence. Imagine that! I, too, am a patriot who loves America. What are the chances of such a junction of personal philosophies by two individuals at a random meeting?

As the lovely rays of the fall sun illuminated his backside I read a third declaration: “I love my county, but fear my government.” I, too, love my country.

The coincidence of four out of five very special personal attitudes was proving to be so extraordinary that I felt light headed. As for No. 5, I could only partially agree, as like so many who love freedom, I am wary of my federal, state and local governments, but to fear them is like fearing the weather. I’ve got more control over my governments than I do the weather. After all, I can vote and I can upload videos that might go viral. But I digress. Back to the richness of coincidence.

I observed our gallant knight dismounting from his steed. He walked around to the passenger side and released a magnificent large dog who proceeded to leave a magnificent large deposit right there in the parking lot. With the steam of freedom rising from the brown mound and reflecting the rays of the morning sun the modern freedom rider and his sidekick re-entered their metal marvel and thundered off into the wild blue yonder.

I was left to ponder the diminishing returns of coincidence — now down to four out of six.

One man’s freedom is another man’s what? A brown mound, perhaps?

Tim Johnson is a computer programmer who lives in Palmer and is co-owner of AkWebsoft. Read more at TJ49.com.