People watching #1

People-watching is fascinating. On my plane was a guy with a Bass Pro Shops t-shirt. There was another guy with cowboy boots, Wranglers, and a belt buckle proclaiming to everyone (who happened to be in the row behind him when he stood up and turned around) that he attended this year’s Reno Rodeo. What is it with cowboy belt buckles? Does he call all of his cowboy buddies when he gets home and say, “Y’all come on over and see my shiny new rodeo belt buckle!”? Or is it a sure-fire way to attract any nearby cowgirls? Or when he’s punishing his son does he say, “Keep talkin’ back to yer Ma and I’ll sick the RODEO belt on ya!”? Maybe it’s a hobby of his: collecting belt buckles from every rodeo attended – I might consider that to be an acceptable reason to spend hard-earned money on such an absurd item, purely for the kitsch of it, although I can’t be sure the guy knows that the word kitsch exists. But I guess you can live a happy life without that knowledge.