A too-close encounter

 (In which the Blob departs Sportsball World for a brief excursion to Wackadoodle World, or something like that. The standard hall pass/library procedures apply to all those who don't want to make the trip.)

I've always wondered what a certified loon of the MAGA variety would sound like in person, not being one who runs in those circles. Thanks to a trip to the supermarket to replenish my ice-cream bar stash, I wonder no longer.

 See, I bumped into this guy walking out. And out of nowhere he turned around and asked if I knew how long it would take to count to a trillion. 

"A while?" I guessed.

"THIRTY-TWO THOUSAND YEARS!" he bellowed.

He was a raggedy sort who looked to be about my age (71), with gray aging-hippie hair and a gleam in his eye that was genial with a touch of ... well, crazy. And as we stood there, he launched into a tirade about the trillions the government spends, and how we needed to "cut the head off the snake" because the Deep State and the New World Order were coming for us, and also the damn Muslims.

"They ARE the New World Order!" he cried, or words to that effect. "And, boy, if you don't believe the way they believe they'll cut your head off! That's gonna happen here if we don't do something about it! You know what I'm sayin'?"

I said, sure, absolutely (or words to that effect). and we parted ways in the parking lot.  After which I said to myself, "Well, THAT was interesting" and headed home before the ice cream bars melted.

Later still I surmised that my too-close encounter of the nutso kind was with a man who was likely mentally ill and off his meds, if in fact he'd ever been on them. I also suspected (entirely without evidence, mind you) that he spent an inordinate amount of time watching Fox News or Newsmax or one of the other hard-right propaganda outlets, which daily stoke the sort of paranoia and nutso-ness my friend displayed in all its glory.

Can a steady diet of Laura Loomer or Laura Ingraham or Dan Bongino literally drive you insane? An interesting hypothesis.

In any case, now I know what a certified MAGA loon sounds like. As they say, you learn something every day.