it's raining on the campaign trail

it’s been a rainy day in galveston but it hasn’t deterred any of us (even my melting ass) from getting out to get the vote out.

nick and i paired up today to do a visibility project in a neighboring town. en route, we got a call to meet up with some fellow volunteers in order to beef up the impact. while we were waiting, nick and i decided to grab a bite of barbeque at “t-bone tom’s” (707 hwy 146 in kemah, texas). while sitting at our table philosophizing about the world and what we’re going to do with our lives (sidenote: though i am nearly a decade older than nick, we are both serendipitously at a loss for what we want to be when we grow up), a waitress named brenda walked up and dropped a $20 bill on our table.

“what’s this for?” we asked.

“i’m not sure,” she responded. “a gentleman who asked to remain anonymous wanted me to bring this over to y’all.”

“is it because we are obama supporters?” i asked. i mean, by now y’all must realize that i’m wearing the uniform of a most devoted crusader (nick too).

“i have no idea,” she replied.

nick and i both looked at each other, jaws on the table. i mean, really, isn’t that the most random thing ever? so surprised by this random act of generosity, we were speechless (a rarity for both nick and myself). just about the time we recovered from our pleasant surprise, brenda returned to our table and dropped another $15 between us.

“y’all are awfully popular in here.” we begged her to tell us who was giving us the money and asked that she make sure the donor know that we were going to be passing the funds on to the campaign. she promised she would do so. she returned shortly thereafter to ask us if we had noticed the gentleman in the cowboy hat. being californians, nick and i always notice the people in the cowboy hats, but not enough to be able to chase him down and thank him for his generosity.

for a state and a part of the country the media touts as arrogant, benighted, and closed-minded, i have consistently been surprised by the generosity, kindness and thoughtfulness of the southeastern texans. thank you texas for making me feel so welcome!