by Travis Mateer
“Do you do meth? “
That was the question posed simply and directly to me by the Officer accompanying the Dedicated Downtown Police Officer. I guess this question made sense, since I had just told them about my Lego Meth Lab, and normally I would have been a little miffed at the implication, but since the interaction began with the Officers complimenting my song about County Commissioner, Dave Strohmaier, I was too ego-stroked to care.
“No,” I simply and directly said back, “I don’t.”
Before that interaction with law enforcement, a cop near one of my favorite bakeries stopped and did something simple and helpful by asking if we needed help pushing a car into a parking spot. We did, actually, need the physical assistance, so the cop got out and gave us the push we needed.
“I’ll write about this good deed,” I said to the Officer, so that’s what I’m doing. It’s important to do something if you say you’re going to do it.
An old guy approached me near that same Bakery the other day and struck up a conversation. I remembered him from the old shelter days and was glad to hear he’s in housing. I also heard quite the tale of how he ended up in Missoula.
The man I knew by the street name “Canada” had been traveling around the country and he got jumped by “a bunch of blacks” in Jackson, Mississippi. Canada was not from Canada, he reminded me, it was just something that stuck. The attack involved at least one knife and Canada shooting “at least two” of his black assailants. Did I mention Canada is a Vietnam Vet?
After spending 29 days in a coma, Canada was given the old bus ticket option. He chose Montana, arrived in Billings first, but it was “too big”, so he went to Kalispell next, then Missoula. I’m not sure when exactly he got into housing, but he said he arrived in Montana in 2009.
The tourist couple with the kid haven’t moved here YET after visiting Yellowstone, but they asked a classic question indicating they were thinking about it: “What are the winters like,” the husband asked. “Long, but it’s the lack of a functioning criminal justice system that you REALLY should be worried about,” I said. Typical me.
I learned from this couple that they stayed at the campground area where the fatal shooting took place, but the only hint something happened was a brief comment by a ranger. You see, Park Rangers had received information about the eventual shooter, so they were prepared and acted accordingly.
And the Secret Service? What about them? It’s being reported that normal citizens were trying to point out the assassin crawling with his rifle before he got into position and took his shots. How could this be?
We’ve entered a new stage of this charade after this weekend’s assassination attempt. What madness is in store now? I don’t know, but I’m ready to do what it takes, locally, in order to maintain that humorous edge I’ve honed through my own trials and tribulations, which will be heating up for me in ways I can’t necessarily anticipate soon.
Don’t worry, unlike a Democrat nominee for president, I have the mental acuity to counter the moves being made to shut me down, so let’s see how my own experiences with lawfare techniques matches up with martyr Trump.
Stay tuned, this should be an interesting week. If you’d like to support an independent voice telling local stories, then please consider donating to Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF). Any little bit helps.
Thanks for reading!
Thank you for putting yourself at such risk, for the benefit of all the rest of us. Most people don’t understand the risks of what you are doing. But I do, we really should have a chat sometime! You’re quickly becoming more of a hero to me, than just someone with better than average journalism skills. I deeply appreciate your resolve to expose the insane path this community has been led down, by the “leaders” we have elected. “Leaders” who seem to consider themselves above all accountability to the interests of the citizens they serve. Disgusting and despicable.
Wow, thank you! My mom will appreciate your comment, I tell her that people DO support what I’m doing, but she tends to focus more on the negative comments that come from state senators and non-profit directors. I knew I’d get blowback when I got more public with my criticisms, but the last year has really taught me some important lessons about asymmetric retaliation.