Freedom!!

So this past Saturday I took Maggie and Freedom to the adoption event that's held every sat. at PETCO in Baileys Crossroads. Maggie had been back with us for a little RnR before her week ahead where she'll be spayed and then hopefully adopted by a family that's willing to drive 4 hrs to meet her. Freedom had come to us via a local WV surrender on Craigslist and had only been here stealing our hearts for less than a week. Traveling with me this week was my almost 5yr old grandson JR, who can make a 1hr+ road trip fun or hell depending on his mood. Well today, he was in a good mood!! Somewhere along the Greenway we spotted a couple fire trucks in an empty parking lot conducting training with full pressure fire hoses. JR of course asked me what they were doing since it was obvious to him there was no fire. I explained how they were teaching the firemen to hold and direct the fire hoses. I of course didn't go into an explanation of how much pressure there is coming out of that hose since the drive was only an hr and I knew that would never be enough time to answer all of THOSE questions. He seemed satisfied with my answer, so I told him how when he grew up, he too could become a fireman, when he quickly shot back while shaking his head with disbelief... "Gramps, I already KNOW how to use a water hose". I sat silent for several miles after that just watching him open and close and open and close his window. Something about the strange mechanisms of my Jeep that captures his attention. We got to the beltway and took our exit onto RT50 which takes us to RT 7 and to the PETCO. Once on RT50 however we always encounter stop and go traffic that apparently likes to sit through green lights. No cause to get upset or cast evil spells on the phone chatting imbeciles, because it makes no difference. So after being asked to open and close my OWN window several times, I informed JR that there was a nicer and quicker way to ask to have the window open or shut. All he had to do was say Loudly and Clearly... Vote Democrat, and I would respond with prompt window movement. This got to be funny after awhile, because when the window was open the nearby drivers could hear him say this. I'm pretty sure that most of them had actually voted democrat, but I still got a kick out of it, purely on the off chance that there was some puffed up piece of republican listening. So we played this game until we arrived at the Petco. Maggie went home with Amanda, another foster and Freedom got adopted by a really nice lady and her 2 yr old Rotti. On the way home I set JR up with my mp3 player mostly because I wasn't in the mood to answer a bunch of questions. Questions that never seem to stop. Once I figured out that he didn't want to listen to any song sung by a female, I set him up a playlist and shortly thereafter he was sound asleep. He woke up about 30 minutes later and we started playing the "Vote Democrat" game again, which was fine because we were almost home. Well not actually home, but to the gas station. That saturday was the last day to use my bonus card from Martins to get .40 off per gallon of gas. I met Cathy and Bobby there so we could fill their truck too since you're allowed up to 30gallons. Halfway thru filling my jeep, the moronic midget that works the station turned off my pump and accused me of backing in to fill my Jeep from the same pump Cathy had just filled from. If I could have climbed through his little freakin window, they would have had to carry him from there in a body bag. I demanded my receipt and headed to the Martins Store Office to have this little piece of republican fired. Instead what I got was a very apologetic manager and a refund in the amount of 12 dollars which is what I would have saved on 30gallons of gas. I thanked him but told him it wasn't the 12 bucks I was upset about. It was the embarrassing and accusatory way in which HIS employee dealt with the matter. When he shut my pump off..... he shut EVERYONE'S pump off which in turn canceled out any bonus card savings they may have been trying to use. He really needed reprimanded and I wanted to be assured that he would be, because the little freak can't go unnoticed in public. He should be working for the circus and I would see him outside of his little box one day and when there's no glass between the two of us.... I'm gonna see just how fast his short little legs can carry him. Dwarf Tossing is a favorite sport of mine!!! I actually didn't tell the store manager all that, but I was thinking it and much more. So I handed Cathy the 12 bucks told her to go ANYWHERE else to get gas and JR and I headed to the Jeep, so we could go get Mac n Cheese (his request for dinner) and head home. We got in the jeep, put on our seat belts..... JR slid his window open.... Looked at me and said, "Gramps, GodDamnit"!!! I couldn't even look at him at first, then slowly I turned and asked, "Didn't you mean, Gramps, Vote Democrat"? "Oh yeah", he replied, as if nothing was said incorrectly. We continued on our way, but now I had something to think about. My democratic game had caused me to BE democratic. Hmmm. We got our Mac n Cheese oh AND a Cheese Cake and were heading home when he asked probably for the 20th time... "Gramps, do you miss Freedom"? I told him, NO, because I was just keeping Freedom for someone else.. I just didn't know who that someone was. He seemed satisfied with that, but now I was thinking about the deeper Question that an almost 5yr old had asked. Yes, he was referring to a puppy that just happened to be named Freedom, but what of our lost freedom!! It was only 5 miles to home, but my poor addled brain worked overtime thinking about his unintended question. I came to the conclusion that Freedom or what we occasionally conceive as freedom is first off... never ours, and even when we think it might be, it's fleeting. Too often we confuse being burdened with a loss of freedom, but many times the reason we're being burdened was part of our right to choose, which is, after all.... Freedom. Kids and Puppies..... What more do we really need.