Tag Archives: disappointed

Day Seven – Revisit and Repeat

HWIREROAD 2024 Posted on by

It was not until 2020 that I made my first outreach to the native tribes in Arizona and New Mexico. My interviews that year were exclusively with native women living on the reservation and working in Navaho owned Outposts. Their covid stories were straightforward, heartbreaking and completely without grievance. Remote multigenerational living, limited medical resources and political complications between Navaho Nation, the State, and public health officials combined to create interventions were brutal in their execution. What struck me most was the complete humility and grace with which the shared their stories.

In 2022 I met Elouise. As a manager of an Indian Outpost owned by Bowlin Travel Centers, her story has stayed with me ever since. In search of an update, I went back to their store in Bluewater New Mexico. Bowlin is a 100 year old company with 10 locations between Arizona and New Mexico. Because their outposts are remote, they offer on-premise housing to key staff members. While I worried that this arrangement might be rife for a power imbalance at best, the workers that I have talked with seemed thankful and genuinely happy.

Here is the 2022 interview. Her story is so difficult, but her resilience is profound.

Update – Elouise moved on last year to a new job, but I got to speak with Joseph and Noah. They both knew Elouise and they shared her spirit and dedication to their work and to their employer. Interestingly, when I asked them what they needed, they both gave me the exact same answer that Elouise did. In that way, things have not changed in Bluewater.

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Day Six – A Hero in Gallup

HWIREROAD 2024 Posted on by

In 2008 as I passed through this very stretch of New Mexico I wrote the following,

Contrast (kən-trāst’, kŏn’trāst’)  To set in opposition in order to show or emphasize differences

Visually, New Mexico geography defines contrast. From the rich color stratifications to the jutting rock formations,  you experience it but it is hard to feel a part of it.

My first post debate interaction this morning was at the hotel elevator where I met two women from Oklahoma, both dressed head to toe in red, white and blue. They seemed more subdued than their attire and within moments they were sharing just how disappointed they were with the debate. They felt that Kamala Harris was unpresidential, did not answer any of the questions, and that the moderators clearly favored her. Trump was strong and the only candidate that world leaders respected. They were clearly terrified of a Harris presidency.

My contrast came two hours later at the Route 66 diner. Sitting at the counter where three good friends discussing the debate. While I suspected they were Trump supporters, they were kind and funny. They signed my flag and slid into a booth to have breakfast. After I finished I noticed that only one of the three remained. Please meet Fred. Born and raised in New Mexico, Fred served for 30 years in the Air Force as a civil engineer. He built Air Force bases in Vietnam and Germany. Fred shared stories of working double shifts when he was deployed just because he loved the work. Off base, he would gain approval to use equipment and materials to aid the local people, schools and orphanages. From clearing fields for rice paddies to building school soccer fields, he was proud of his work and service. I am too.

I asked Fred if he would answer one last question on tape for me and he agreed. In the end, he had one last surprise for me.

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