Hadda run out to the neighborhood grocery store late this evening. While I was there, I noticed a kid, probably in his mid-twenties, walking around the store with a $100 bill in his hand (!), wearing no shirt and sporting a tattoo on his shoulder that was, at first glance, either Jesus or Che Guevara.
It was not a very good tat, but on closer inspection, it seemed to be none other than Che.
This kid had really bad teeth and between his appearance and his buddy's, I figured them for a pair of meth-lab entrepeneurs who got lost in West County while on a road trip from Jefferson County.
They were laughing and scratching and trying to decide which huge bottle of cheap whiskey they should buy. Couldn't make up their collective mind and so they stumbled out.
But I was left with this question...why in the world would anyone like that, clearly a substance-abusing low-rent, have a picture of one of the great criminals of the 20th century carved into his skin? How would this guy even have known about him? I can't imagine the guy was much of a student of history.
Guevara was the worst kind of Commie, a "fortunate son" who squandered his family's money and reputation and was responsible for the deaths of thousands in Central America and Cuba. The recent movie, The Motorcycle Diaries, glorified this POS for reasons way beyond my understanding. Gratefully, Che was killed by the Bolivians in 1967. If there's a God, Guevara suffered mightily before he died.
The worst part of this adventure happened when I mentioned it to the three clerks huddled around the checkout register.
None of them had any idea who Guevara was! I know all of these folks, and I know that two of them are at least HS grads and one has a BA. How did they miss learning about Che and his crimes against humanity?
Is the educational system really that lacking?