Tonight, it is just Steve and me standing the post outside by the customer parking spaces. It is a slow night, and the rest of the salesmen are off doing other things to kill time.
Steve and I have not gotten along all that well. The fault is entirely his. I have already recounted the episode where he would not answer when I asked a question, and when he warned me not to speak to him when he was with a customer. He ignores me almost all of the time.
Tonight, as we stand alone out under the high lamps illuminating the parking lot, he suddenly turns and stares at me.
He acts like he is wielding a light saber, and comes at me making sound effects to match.
To his surprise, I do not back down, but make my own sound effects like I am activating a light saber and take two steps toward him. We swing at each other and have a mock light saber fight.
"I am Obi-Wan Kenobi," he says, "and I'm about to go Jedi Master on your ass."
We continue our battle.
"No, you are Luke Skywalker," I say. "I am Darth Vader, and I am about to slice off your hand."
I do a quick slashing move, and Steve actually plays along, like his hand has just been chopped off and he has lost his light saber.
"You're a Star Wars fan?" he asks.
"What guy my age isn't?" I respond. I grew up with Star Wars.
Steve nods in agreement.
"The new ones are terrible, though," I say.
"What?" Steve exclaims. "No, they are just as good as all the others."
"They are terrible," I repeat. "There is no way the franchise would be as popular as it is today if Episodes One, Two, and Three were actually the first movies to come out. It's like a different George Lucas wrote them. The stories from those episodes aren't even consistent with the 1977 Star Wars."
Steve has opened a Pandora's box, and I think he realizes it.
"The whole idea of R2-D2 as an action character in those movies is absolutely ridiculous. R2-D2 and C-3PO should not even be characters in Episodes One through Three. I mean, a young Darth Vader creating C-3PO in Episode One? What is the point of that? Vader makes no mention of this in the original movies. Lucas wrote himself into a jam with that one, and his solution is to have C-3PO's memory wiped at the end of Episode 3? 3PO just says, 'Oh, no!'
It is a terrible treatment of such a great character to the original movies. 3PO doesn't even have any good lines in the new movies. The original movies had humor. These new one are not funny."
Steve just quietly listens and watches me as a student would a teacher. He is truly a Star Wars fan, I think, and is interested in what I have to say.
"I'll give you one example of an inconsistency between the original movies and the new ones," I continue. "R2-D2 is Obi-Wan's side kick in Episodes One through Three. I mean, he's right there fighting battles beside Obi-Wan, right?"
"Right," Steve says, curious as to where I am going.
"But in the original 1977 Star Wars, Episode Four, Obi Wan does not know R2-D2, and R2-D2 does not know him."
"Nah, man," Steve says.
"It's true," I say. "When Obi-Wan rescues Luke from the Sand People, Luke says that the droid must belong to him. Obi-Wan says, 'I don't seem to remember ever owning a droid.'"
Steve doesn't know what to say, but we continue talking about various aspects of Star Wars until closing time.
***
I feel a little sorry for Beaver. He recently had to go through some training on sexual harassment. He was too forward with Rose, a very beautiful lady from Nicaragua who works in the warranty office at the dealership. He often put his arm around her and whispered things when talking with her, and she complained about this to management. Beaver means no harm, though. He is only 18.
Now, though, he is out in front of the dealership with me, Steve, Rob and about six other salesmen on a Sunday afternoon. Beaver found this web site that has jokes about black people, and for some reason he thinks it is okay to tell these jokes in front of everyone. Perhaps it is because Rob (one of the three black salesman at the dealership along with Steve and an older man named Desmond) is the one who showed Beaver the site. Rob is laughing as hard as anyone at the jokes.
Some of the jokes are pretty graphic and refer to the blacks' time in slavery. I can not help but notice that Steve is not laughing, but is forcing a grin so as not to appear too obvious.
After our Star Wars conversation, I've gotten to know Steve a little better. He likes American History, too. Somehow, we got on the subject of family trees one day. He does not know much about his own family, other than that they came from Africa and some were slaves at one point. He is impressed that I can trace my relatives on my dad's side to 1835 in North Carolina, and on my mom's side to the 1600s in Virginia, coming from England.
I tell him that he has come a lot further in a shorter amount of time with less of a societal support structure.
Steve likes that point of view, I think.
Anyway, Beaver continues telling those awful jokes, and I have to say something.
"Beaver, you should remember some of that advice you got from management recently," I say.
Beaver freezes and does not look at me. After a moment, he responds, "Everyone here is okay with these jokes."
"Are you sure?" I ask.
Beaver stops telling the jokes.
***
A little while later, I see Steve standing alone by one of the cars, and I walk up to talk to him.
"Black people tear each other down more than any other race," he says.
He is irritated or disappointed with Rob for enjoying the jokes so much.
"We're a larger minority than the Hispanics," he says, "but there will be a Hispanic President of the United States before a Black President."
"Maybe, maybe not," I say.
I try to think of something encouraging. "You've just got to keep doing what you know is right. You should be a role model for Rob. You are older than he is."
Steve seems to take these words to heart. I hope they are helpful.
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