I first noticed her when the guy behind the counter at Taco Bell mentioned something about her motorcycle while she placed her order. Still mildly attractive in her mid-thirties (or so I assumed), she sported a backpack and was dressed as though she had just come from the gym. I was intrigued by the fact that she had arrived at Taco Bell on a motorcycle but brushed it off as I ordered my food.
I ended up seated about three tables down from her so I figured incidental conversation was out of the question. I couldn’t help but wonder why she chose to ride a motorcycle on a day such as this.
As I got up to leave, I had to pass by her table to discard my tray. As I passed, I decided it was time for an exploration into to society’s psyche. What better vessel of exploration than a complete stranger?
“Is that your bike out there?” I asked her. I knew it was. But I did also realize that I was talking to a stranger and that was the best ice-breaker I could come up with.
“Yeah, it is.” Her quizzical look made me wonder if she thought I was hitting on her. Hell with it, I thought. Her tone didn’t have “Screw you” behind it so I figured I’d go for it.
“You mind if I ask you a couple questions?”
“Umm, sure,” she replied hesitantly. I imagined she was thinking 'What is this freak up to?'
I launched right into it. “It’s kind of a crappy day out there.” True, it had been raining earlier and the remaining humidity was keeping the streets from drying much. “Why are you riding a bike on a day like this?” This was obviously not a well thought out series of interview questions.
She looked at me rather quizzically. “Umm, because I like to. It’s summer,” she said with what I thought might be an air of annoyance. ‘Wow,’ I thought. Even I realized the absurdity of the question. She might as well have followed up her answer with, “Here’s your sign, Dumbass!”
I recovered without missing a beat. “Well, what I meant was…I mean, I…” So much for recovering. Get it together man!
“I’ve been doing research on public opinion of climate change and economics.” That was a bit of a stretch but hell, what did she know? So what if she was the first test subject, I was still doing research. “I was just curious if your choosing to ride a bike on a day like this had anything to do with your thoughts on either of those subjects.” It had taken a while to get to the point but she handled it well. “With fuel prices like they are and what everyone says about fuel and climate change…”
“Oh…yeah.” She finally realized where I was going with it and went along with it. “Actually yes, that is a bit of it. My other vehicle is a truck. With a V8. It’s a gas hog I know. That’s one of the reasons I bought the bike. That, and I like to ride of course.”
“Then you buy into the climate change thing? Do you believe climate change is actually happening?” I feared with as politicized as the subject had become as of late that I would lose her with such direct questions. Turns out I was wrong.
“Actually, yes,” she replied confidently.
“Then do you believe the effects of climate change are potentially as bad as they say they might be?” Now it’s getting deep. How long is she going to stick this out I wondered. I still wasn’t completely convinced my questions weren’t going to shut off her willingness to talk.
“Yes.” Again, confidence. But then I wondered how much she knew of the predicted effects of climate change. I decided pushing for details wasn’t necessary. If she had ever watched the news, she knew enough. I wanted to know more. She was a prime candidate to describe how the general populace felt about the subject and I wanted to explore deeper.
“So then do you think that we…humans…can do something about it? Do you think our actions can have an effect on a global scale?”
“Yes. Absolutely we can do something about it. After all, we are the cause of it.” Holy shit, I didn’t even ask for it. The human side of the issue – often the most contentious part of the ‘controversy’ – addressed, and apparently accepted by this motorcycle-riding female at Taco Bell. “Actually, I’ve been reading ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ – the condensed version. I don’t see how we can deny it,” she added.
I had nothing more. I knew what I wanted to know. We chit-chatted some more, but not about anything really important. I had discovered someone who saw things as I did and who wasn’t a part the science community. Maybe this is starting to catch on. Maybe the public is accepting that unless we do something now, we may not have a 'later' to procrastinate to. Maybe there is hope afterall.
Then again, maybe I should stop spontaneously interviewing random strangers at Taco Bell.
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