“Man on the Street” is a feature we run each week, spotlighting the opinions of a handful of local residents on some specific topic.
Once a week, I head down to a popular commercial area — usually the Oakdale Mall — and interview eight or so random folks, none expecting their opinions to appear in print that weekend.
Sometimes, the topic is fun: What local events are you looking forward to this summer? ... Any big plans for Labor Day? ... Do you like spiedies?
This week, the topic was a bit more solemn.
“Six years after 9/11, how do you think the war on terror has gone so far?”
My question elicited some of the most varied, intense responses to date. (The answers will appear Saturday in this section.)
One responder gave me enough to fill two full pages on my stenographer’s pad. More than one person made a comparison to Vietnam.
One couple told me of a relative in the aerospace industry who’s warned them of the “definite possibility” of another plane being hijacked, similar to the Sept. 11 catastrophe.
Another person simply grinned, looked at my press pass, and carefully enunciated an unprintable expletive.
Walking back towards the parking lot after finishing up, I ran into Brian Daniel, a young, bright-eyed calendar salesman manning a kiosk.
I asked him about the “Local Interest” stand, which prominently displayed a half-full shelf of calendars labeled “The Out of Office Countdown!” The packaging showed our nation’s president in one of his trademark grins, underneath a banner headline: “2008 Through the Glorious End! (Jan. 20, 2009)” The larger calendars were titled “Bye-Bye Bush,” and a smaller collection of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama Inauguration calendars.
How, exactly, is that “Local Interest?”
“The anti-Bush thing is huge,” Daniel said. “We’ve been selling these for years.”
(He recited one of his favorite quotes: “It’s in our best interest to take those who would do us harm out of harm’s way.”)
Some of the more traditional favorites, featuring scantily clad models, furry farm animals and friendly cartoon characters, sat untouched in the middle of the section.
From my random-sample reporting this week, it’s clear that the war on terror is one of the more important issues in area residents’ minds. But less clear is: How would you define the war on terror?
Some respondents spoke of our country’s mission in Iraq. Some specifically cited al-Qaida and September 11, while others took a domestic perspective.
My open-ended question spurred a lot of different answers, but as the calendar peddler said, one recurring theme seemed to surface. Even my drive back to the Press & Sun-Bulletin wasn’t devoid of the day’s political theme, as I followed a black sedan with a bright green bumper sticker that read simply:
“11.04.08.”
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