Military.

I’m guessing on this, but I think nearly half of all the people in Cheyenne are somehow connected to the military. I see Department of Defense stickers everywhere. Camouflage, uniforms and “support the troops” signs are everywhere. There is a large Air Force base, which explains this presence. But I don’t think I’ve lived anywhere with such a large military presence before. If the base left, this town would come close to dying, I think.

The girl at the bank who helped me set up a checking account—her husband is in the military. The girl who helped me at Wal-Mart (more on that later)—her husband is in Iraq. The girl at the gym—yep, husband is military. Most of these women are younger than me. Meeting these people really makes the Iraq war seem more real. I’ve been in a bubble most of my life with very little contact with people in the military. They’re all nice and I almost feel sorry for them. Many of them are far away from home and would not be here if it weren’t for the military.

Oh yes, Wal-Mart. It’s weird living in a town with a SuperCenter again. It’s basically the only place to shop. After living in Lawrence for 2 1/2 years I became accustomed to SuperTarget and shopping at many non-chain stores. SuperCenters are in a class by themselves. They’re just simply HUGE! And there’s stuff everywhere. The new thing (compared to when I used to go them in Springfield) is that you can order McDonald’s at the checkout line. Hello, obesity! There are some pluses to SuperCenters. The main one is that you can get everything you possibly could ever want for a cheap price. But the amount of stuff also makes them severely annoying. I walked up and down a million aisles this evening trying to find forks. And the people with “the May I help you” on the back of their jackets really aren’t that helpful. Maybe it’s because they’re not getting their healthcare paid, being sexually harassed and being forced to stay after their shifts are over. I guess that’s the “liberal” coming out in me.

I’ve been listening to Fox News. I don’t really know why. I guess it's because I think it’s important to listen to what everyone has to say. Oh, yeah, also because I'm in a REALLY red state and it's on a bunch of the radio stations and always on TV when I'm going around and about. Bill O’Reilly was talking about journalism schools this morning. He basically called them places for liberal indoctrination. His main argument was that when you ask a journalism student what they want to do, they answer, “I want to change the world.” Well, that’s not your job, Mr. O’Reilly says. I don’t think journalists can necessarily change the world, but you definitely have to have some kind of drive. It’s not an easy profession. You’re going to get yelled at from a variety of different angles. You’ve got to have tough skin. Oh, and you don’t get paid very much. So something’s go to motivate you. I think at first it is that desire to really be involved in what’s going on in the world. Is that really such a bad thing? Should journalists just be completely apathetic? If Mr. O’Reilly considers himself a journalist, isn’t what he’s doing is “trying to change the world”? He would never admit to that. Just say that he’s being “fair and balanced” and telling the truth. But anyone with half a brain can tell O’Reilly is also trying to change the world.

In other news, I think I may have pink eye. It’s that or my allergies are severely acting up. My left eye feels like it has glass in it. I keep picking at it, which is just making it more red and puffy. I went and got some eye drops tonight (found those relatively easy at Wally World), so hopefully they’ll help.