I just started driving. Mara had a rough night of it. Apparently she was harassed by one of those upstanding Christian types; the kind who has nothing to say but mean, vile shit, but who would consider himself a Christian in a Christian nation; one of those who wouldn't dare act at home the way he does on the road.

He kicked off his general barrage of bullshit by saying that Nicole Brown (O.J.'s wife and victim) was a nigger-loving whore who got what she deserved. Mara didn't respond to this, and in fact said nothing at all until someone asked for a bear report. Then he started in on her, calling her a whore, etc.

She said she finally just turned the radio off. She cut her run short because it depressed her so. Not because of him so much, but because of the general nastiness of so-called humanity. At least in General Culture you can put on your blinders and tell yourself that people are basically good. Out here, when you're knee-deep in humanity and encounter hundreds of people on a daily basis, you realize that this just isn’t so. Sometimes you think Maynard is right, and that it all needs to be swept away.

For every one, good, decent person you meet, there are dozens, hundreds of worthless maggots. What does that say about humanity? Is the one worth it?