Around 11:00 this morning I was starting to feel pretty hungry so I walked over to the BBQ place just down from my motel. It wasn't open. Damn. I really wanted a BBQ sandwich too.

I was just about to walk back to my room when the owner pulled up. I asked what time they opened and he said noon, and then asked what I was wanting. I told him I just wanted a BBQ sandwich but could wait until then. He said he had come in early this morning and had it all ready and then invited me in to get a sandwich, Nice guy.

As he was nice enough to make me a sandwich an hour before opening I went ahead and bought two just to make it worth it for him. They're pretty big sandwiches and there was no way I could eat two of them, so on my way back to my room I gave one of them to the trucker in the room next to mine who's truck is broke down. I figured "what the heck" the BBQ store owner was nice to me so I might as well pass it along.

That driver was busy trying to get a ride to the airport so he could fly home. His family had purchased a plane ticket for him. Trouble was, a cab from here to the airport was way too expensive. He had been working all morning trying to find someone who could give him a ride there. Unfortunately, for legal reasons, I can't have a passenger in my truck or I would have given him a ride there. I just can't afford to risk my job no matter how much I'd like to help him out. A sandwich was the best I could do, but he seemed to appreciate it. He offered to pay for it but I refused to take his money. He's going to need it.

I hate to say it but I think part of the reason he's having trouble finding a ride to the airport is because he's black. I know that's pretty sad, and even maddening, but I suspect it's true. There are still a lot of people who hold to old bigotry, even today, and some rural Texans are no exception (much like many other places around the country).

It's a real shame too because he's a very nice young man just trying to get home to GA. I'm really hoping he can find someone to take him to the airport in time for his flight this evening. Not everyone in rural Texas thinks that way so hopefully things will work out. Most Texans are good people at heart, and I feel those do outnumber the remaining bigots out there.

Then again, I could be totally off base and he's just not run across anyone going in that direction. It's possible and a much more pleasant thought than what my cynical mind supposes to be the case. It''s a nutty old world either way.