red white and blue hangover

Sunday the fifth of July..(The beautiful girl chuckles every time I tell this story..makes her giggle.)
  Its 1969 and my family is on its yearly pilgrimage to the florida keys.We are stopped in one of the nameless gas stations on a-1-a in Dillon South Carolina.  I jump outta the back of the camper truck, amazed at the green beauty that is the south.  Sweet air ... nothing like south eastern pa in the winter.   I survey everything that is a bustling, south carolina truck stop,  And then i see it...   a sign over the water fountain.   colored.   What!!!!..., I look around for any other sign that says..;"stop here for the Dillon's amazing colored water"...my 11 year old mind runs rampant with what will happen when I push the foot pedal...the south is so cool...   no snow and colored water...this is great!..and as I reach my lips to what is going  to be the most awesome water on the planet...before I get one sip of Dillon's fantastic multicolored agua...I hear.."Hey kid, get fuck the fuck away from the nigger fountain".  I pulled my mouth away...not sure if I had heard what I heard.  I side water fountain glanced,( an eleven year old thing), to see a huge crew cutted man, bounding towards me, his face red, his arms swinging..."did you hear me".. in  one second, a mere instance... I became aware of race.. Without a single taste...I understood the "n" word and all the hatred that went with it...not a sip ..today, knowing what I know I still feel denied...maybe it was special...pink.. rainbow flavored..  But  never forgot that taste.
hate..intollerence...sadness
 Its the hangover from all this liberty...for american greatnesss..I have a friend in India today who celebrated the 4th staring at the majesty of the himalayas.  If I know Robin she had on flag colored panties  Other friends wore their red white and blue in mexico, cuba and god knows where else. Waving the flag  Proud to be American  If they were home they would have gotten to enjoy what has been a week of triumphs and or defeats, depending on what side of the chasm you stand. And believe me when I tell you,  it's the grand canyon of chasms, just no ohhs and ahhs.  We celebrated this holiday as disconnected from each other as I can ever remember us ever being.  Some screamed about the loss of christian values.  Pledged to set themselves on fire, defy the law, refuse the rainbows.  Still others tried to explain why a stupid flag, not our nations flag, meant so much more than most of us understood.  Universal healthcare is Socialism...... But no... we are a nation that likes to be seperated... we are the fuck you's.  You're black and are somehow offended by a flag that stands for half a nation that fought to enslave you.  Fuck off ..It was a century and a half ago, get over it.  Gay, you don't deserve rights, there our too few of you to care about, besides its icky..its gay..its wierd..fuck off...A rich guy calls mexicans motherfuckin rapist and gangsters , whatever...shut up and mow the lawn...churches burning, racism out of control...whateverah deal with it...were not racist we're americans... the uber rich have taken control of everything...Middle class gone, an entire nations wealth in the hands of 1 percent...shut the fuck up..put on your flag bikini....wave you're flag... love this country,..or we will label you..gangster ..fag.. racist..commie

  I don't get it..I don't care if you have some rebel flag signifying your complete misunderstanding of an entire race of people..have at it brother...You love someone that uses the same bathroom as you do..maybe they can get you to wash your hands..enjoy life..be happy!!!
 I grew up with friends, gay men that hid their identity from every single person that loved or cared for them.  They feared ridicule, disertion, abandonment. ..They deserve a country that they can claim as their own  I went to a college where only sports stars and prodigies attended if they weren't white...We have a black president, who cares what color you are..you belong..to this nation of misfits and mutts. Isnt everyone secretly tired of all this hate and seperation.  don't we just wanna love our families and respect our neighbors for who they are...don't you wish them the best, healthy happy life they possibly can
eek out of this whole mess.
We have computers, cell phones...gps.. In sci fi books we are driving hover crafts and beaming up...but nope, same shit new century..... and oh yeah...we got troops on the ground...risking everything for the stupid words on an old piece of brown paper...That "we the people" shit.. so.forget all the hatred, embrace our differences ..cause in the end we all want to have a beer and a burger .. gather by the water and go watch someone blow some serious  shit up!!!  happy Birthday  'murica