An Ode to Progress

At a red light the other day, as I was driving to work, a middle-aged man in a blue mini-van rolls down his window and started making frantic gestures at me. At first startled, I remembered that this is a common thing. I have a simple sticker on the back of my car. Four simple words, none more than four letters. It reads, "Who is John Galt?"

For those of you who don't know what that means, click this link to purchase the book "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand.

For those that do, imagine the scene. Police station in the back ground, the NPR on both radios, two cars neck and neck. Me, unsuspecting, and another person foaming at the mouth to make a comment.
"Oh man, I love your sticker. 'Who is John Galt?' My god, there's a hope for this world yet"
I couldn't help but notice the Christian Family Bookstore bumper sticker and shudder.

Amicably, I smiled, grabbed the copy of Atlas Shrugged I 'just so' happened to have with me, held it up and said:
"Words to live by, friend."

We drove on.

I went to work, I pressed the buttons on the cash register, and I dreamed of times to come. Soon enough, just eleven short hours later, I would be out of work and traveling down the street on the way to the grocery store. I hear a horn blare from a car speeding past me as they lean out the window and scream:
"Who is John Galt?!"

Two in one day makes a good day. I sit in the coffee shop and pick through the book. A man, well-dressed, and in his late forties taps my table. I look up to see a smile.
"Great book you have there"
"I know it"
"First time?"
"Seventeenth"
"Hence the highlighter"
"Yes, and you may call me Hugh Akston if you wish"

We both share a quick laugh, and he walks out to his car. Shiny, red, extravagant. his new car blurs into the the motion of the passing traffic and he's gone. Three in one day is uncommon.

Settling in from the journey home, I started watching classes on Academic Earth as I got ready for bed. I watched the first lecture of four in a series on Copyright Law by Keith Winstein. As he instucted the class, he looked up from his book and said:
"Anyone read Atlas Shrugged? Any objectivists here?"

::silence::

He shakes his head as I laugh out loud, and explains how a theoretical Randian ideal has to do with a certain viewpoint of the law.

I found myself wishing I was in his classroom to be the person that jumped up and screamed

"Who is John Galt?"

Four references in one day leaves me resting assured that the world hasn't gone to an idiotic hand-basket hell.