It was an impulse buy. I had stopped by a convenience store on the north side of town, for what I can’t remember, and saw the baseball cap sitting on a shelf, covered with a fine film of dust.
The cap was bright red, with the words “Obama 2012 printed prominently on the front and “Four More Years” inscribed on the bill.
It was in spring of 2015, so I got a deal on the cap since it was three years out of date.
Ever since, I’ve been waiting for just the right opportunity to wear it.
That perfect occasion arrived Thursday in the form of an invitation to the Neshoba County Fair.
I attended the fair for the first time last year and realized if ever there was a place and time to make a political statement, Thursday was the day and the Fair was the place.
“You’re crazy,” said a friend when I informed of my plans.
“If you’re going to wear an Obama cap to the Neshoba County Fair, you had better do it this year – while you still have health insurance,” another quipped.
I figured wearing an Obama cap to the Neshoba County Fair, which is probably the most conservative, Republican place on earth for one week each summer, would be an excellent test of a theory I’ve held for a long time: Mississippians are almost pathologically polite.
So off to Philadelphia I went.
I wondered how long it would be before I was confronted or heard taunts.
But nobody said anything as I passed through the front gate. Near one of the cabins that surround Founder’s Square and the pavilions where the speeches are made each year, I noticed two men leaning against a porch railing, looking in my direction.
In Westerns, the people looking for trouble are almost always leaning up against something, so I steeled myself for a confrontation and walked by, trying to “act normal.” They didn’t say a word, though, and I was mildly disappointed. It was kind of like wearing a new outfit and nobody noticing.
I wandered around the square, paused to listen to the speeches of a few elected officials and tried to make myself as conspicuous as possible in order to put my theory to a fair test.
Nobody said anything, but I did feel their cold stares as I passed them by. I know what they were thinking, of course:”You never wear a red cap with a green shirt unless it’s Christmas time.”
My plan had been, if things go too tense I would retreat to the cabin of Dick Molpus, the former Secretary of State, who had invited me to the fair. Molpus is a Democrat, which makes him an outlier at the fair. Joining him and his like-minded guests at his cabin is sort of like joining the French Underground. You keep a low profile until you are among your own.
The first person I met at the Molpus cabin was a union organizer, Jaz Brisack, a sophomore at Ole Miss who is spending her summer working for the United Auto Workers as the union makes it pitch to the workers at the Nissan plant in Canton.
We sat on the porch and listened as Gov. Phil Bryant complained about the union efforts in Canton, those “outsiders” who are always butting in on our business with their “fancy talkin’ and highfalutin’ ways. YeeHaw. Oh, and just look at this Golden Shovel I won, etc. etc. etc.”
I spent a couple of hours at the Molpus cabin before striking out again to be noticed, touring the exhibit hall and watching a few harness races. Again, no reaction.
I shared this mild disappointment with a few folks at the Molpus cabin. The consensus was that I had chosen the wrong year to conduct the experiment. There was some truth to that.
Last year, the fairgrounds were awash with signs and stickers and Trump campaign paraphernalia. This year, with no elections on the horizon, the mood was far less politically-charged and there were only a handful of signs here and there, mostly for incumbent Republicans running for state office in a couple of years.
At the end of the day, my theory on the unfailing politeness of Mississippians was not disproven.
But I wonder if maybe the timing just wasn’t right to put it to an adequate test.
Next year, I’m growing a beard and going as a Muslim cleric.
Then we’ll know for sure.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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