Occupy Cheyenne Mike vs. Tea Party Slim

Tea Party Slim, or someone
who looks a lot like him

I walked over to Tea Party Slim's house and invited him to Occupy Cheyenne.

I might have had a better reaction had I slapped his face with a cutthroat trout.

"Occupy Cheyenne?" he harrumphed.

"One and the same," I said.

He rose to his full height and demanded: "You have been making fun of my Tea Party sympathies since April 2009, is that correct?"

I had to admit that he was correct.

"You have been making fun of the woefully misspelled signs of my brethren and sistren."

"Check," I said. " 'Get a clue, morans' was one of my favorites."

"You have been running photos of those signs, and ones that have equated Obama with Hitler, for at least two years."

He had me. "Yes," I said.

"You have called us Know Nothings."

"Check," I said.

"You have called us rednecks."

"I did that once. I lost my head."

"You have said that we were the unwitting dupes of the Koch Brothers and other right-wing billionaires."

"True," I said.

Slim started at me. I stared back. It was one of those classic Cheyenne stand-offs. Finally, Slim asked: "Would I be welcomed at your rally?"

"It's not a rally so much as an occupation," I said.

Slim looked at me with uncomprehending eyes.

"Let's just call it a rally."

"Will you Liberal elitists make fun of my age and my demeanor?"

I looked at Slim. "Possibly your demeanor but not your age." I added: "My wife and I were some of the oldest folks at Occupy Denver last Saturday. Not a single person mocked us. We got the stink-eye a couple times, but it might have been due to seasonal allergies."

Slim nodded. "That's an old problem with stink-eye."

"Will you join us?" I asked. "You are the 99 percent."

"I suppose I am," Slim said, "although not in a Liberal Democrat Pinko Commie sort of way."

A stillness descended on the scene.

"If we worked together, do you think we could spark some real change?" This was Slim's question.

I wasn't so sure. But I sought an answer. "Couldn't hurt," I said.

We reached a compromise. I would hold (briefly) Slim's "Ron Paul 2012" sign. He would hold (briefly) my hand-lettered sign that read: "We are WY public workers. We are the 99%."

It was a start...

P.S.: Occupy Cheyenne takes place from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15, on the north side of the Depot Plaza in downtown Cheyenne. Starting at 10 a.m. that day, the UU Church is holding a sign-making workshop. I gleefully look forward to the workshop as my protest signs are woefully inadequate. See you there.