Here Come The Judge

I've been blessed and fortunate to meet and know several people of note in my lifetime. Many I met when I was a kid (through their associations with my father) and had no idea of the significance of the luminaries who I came across. Later as a young adult and fancying myself a musician, I would often meet and associate with famous (and infamous) musicians that I sometimes opened or played for. Still others I would just luck up on by being at the right place at the right time, which was the case with my most recent encounter when I needed a gallon of milk during my Facebook hiatus for Lent...

Not too long ago I went to the Giant Food store in my 'hood here in Northern Virginia with the intent of picking up a box of Honey Nut Cheerios, some 1% milk and a few other things. This is my main grocery spot and has been for the past few years so I instinctively know where everything is. I walking in the door, grabbed one of those hand held baskets and picked up some red seedless grapes as I made my way through the fruit on my way to the cereal isle. As I trekked through the ready made flower and balloon displays I could now see clearly from one end of the cereal isle to the other as I approached it's entry. I noticed a lone person reaching for a box of Corn Flakes only to be interrupted by an incoming text. He stopped reaching and put his basket on the floor in order to retrieve the text, then began to type his reply. As I walked past him it immediately struck me that he looked very familiar. He was an older gentlemen wearing a conservatively styled black suit with very subtle charcoal grey pinstriping. Not only was it not from The Men's Warehouse or K&G, but an accomplished tailor had obviously applied his skilled hands to this suit for it to have fit him so perfectly. Like his suit, his tie was conservative and expensive. His watch appeared to be expensive, but the style indicated that he'd probably had it since the early to mid '80's. By contrast, his shoes were clean but a bit worn and run down. They were definitely a Pay Less Shoes or WalMart sale item. They curled slightly on the outer heels; this indicated to me that he must walk with his feet pointed slightly outward.

Finding the Honey Nut Cheerios on my right side, I took the opportunity to look over my shoulder back at him once again. As he finished his text and put his phone back in his jacket pocket, I noticed that he was chewing a piece of gum with fervor and gusto; as if it was the best he'd ever had and the last he was ever going to get. I took another good look at his face as he retrieved the Corn Flakes and picked up his basket.

"Man, that guy looks just like...naw, couldn't possibly be." I said to myself as he walked out of the isle and I continued on to the milk section with Cheerios and grapes in tow.

When I got to the milk fridge I looked in and saw only two cartons of Horizon organic 1%, our family milk of choice. I decided to grab both. I figured that if the zombie apocalypse jumps off in the next week or so, The Russell's of Fairfax County will have strong bones with which to wield and confidently swing the machete's needed to lop off the heads of the undead hordes (Go here for more info on that - https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150593555525655).

Anyway, as I put both in my hand held basket I hear a voice behind me say "Aw man, brother. You're gonna take both of those? Those are the last two. Let me get one."

Now I've got an attitude. I turn around (with the intention of telling this person to ask a Giant employee if they've got more in the back somewhere because these two are MINE) and who do I encounter but this same gentlemen from the cereal isle. He must have changed his mind about the Corn Flakes because I noticed he's got Cheerios in his basket now too, along with two big jugs of Arizona Iced tea - one lemon, one diet peach. My irritated demeanor melts and I smile, but hold my ground for a minute...

Me - (jokingly) "I've got little ones at home man. They need this to grow strong bones."
Him - (good naturedly) "Yes, but there's TWO. Come on, let me get one."
Me - "There are other organic brands in there. Get that Nature's Promise. It tastes just as good."
Him - "See now, you know just like I do that it doesn't!" 

Recognizing that the exchange as cordial and fun, I can't resist saying what's on my mind.

Me - (handing him a milk carton) "Say brother, has anyone ever told you that you look EXACTLY like Clarence Thomas?"
Him - "Well, I'd better!"
Me - (with the side eye) "You're Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas?"
Him - "Yes sir."

Now, I'm absolutely floored at this point. Although I'm certain that this is indeed Justice Thomas I still feel the need for further confirmation. I certainly can't ask him to pull out his I.D. and prove it, so I go with the first thing that crosses my mind.

Me - "You know Judge, I've got to tell you that the opinion piece you wrote in support of the Virginia anti cross burning law a few years ago was incredible. I don't agree with you on everything but I was in agreement with every point you made there."
Judge Thomas - "Well, the opposing argument was that cross burning was not intimidation, but a form of freedom of speech. The physical act of cross burning itself has no written or verbal component, and anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that cross burning always has been and always will be nothing but an act of intimidation. That whole thing was ridiculous. You actually read that eh? That must have been 10 years ago son. I'm surprised you remember it. So are you from Virginia?"
Me - "Yes sir."
Judge Thomas - "OK then, if you're interested in such things you know that Virginia has a long history of....."

Judge Thomas dressed similarly to this when I encountered him.

Thus began a 30 minute conversation that covered everything from segregation, affirmative action and gentrification to job/career trends of the past 30 years, HBCU's, race/culture/class demographic shifts in the DMV, Trayvon Martin and everything else in between. He talked about his largely utopian upbringing in The South, his culturally diverse education and his surprisingly racist treatment in The North. He mentioned that regardless of whether he was in integrated classrooms or the only person of color to be found, he was always the top student. He said that during much of his college years he was basically a Marxist, hipster and an anarchist, but had a radical change in thinking after a few close calls in a couple of riots and reading a few very specific books. He figured there had to be a better way to affect positive change.
As I stood there listening intently, hearing the passion in which he spoke about the issues I got the impression that he was, in a sense, purging. It was if he felt the need to explain himself and his perspective to a regular cat on the street. As I stood there in my jeans, tennis shoes and a t-shirt depicting a bumbling Homer Simpson (having just finished some yard work) I couldn't have appeared any more "regular". It was if he was trying to tell me in a round about way that his positions on issues of Black interest were often misunderstood. How did I come to this conclusion? Almost every issue he freely mentioned without provocation (save for my initial comment) had distinct ties to African American interests. I was actually quite surprised that he spoke so personally and freely with some of the things that he told me. Although I doubt that he told me anything that couldn't be found is his autobiography (I haven't read it yet), his tone had a distinct "I need for you to understand where I'm coming from" ring to it.

As he spoke and occasionally asked me questions designed to allow him to expound further on a subject, I thought back to the infamous Emerge magazine cover of several years ago depicting him as a smiling lawn jockey with the headline "Uncle Thomas: Lawn Jockey to the Conservative Right" and thought again as I did back then that it was unneccesarily harsh. I've been at odds with many of Judge Thomas' Supreme Court positions. Although I understood and even agreed with many of his points on the issue, I couldn't agree with Thomas' vote to eliminate affirmative action, something that he has been a direct beneficiary of. Thomas voted to eliminate public school integration plans across the country. He voted to limit access to the courts for plaintiffs, to deny rights of appeal to defendants, and to protect the corporate status quo. He cast one of the deciding votes in the divided 5-4 Bush v. Gore decision that stopped the counting of ballots in the contested 2000 Florida presidential election.

The infamous Emerge magazine cover.

Now here I was face to face and in conversation with the man in a Giant Food Supermarket.

During the length of our conversation, I wondered if any of the people walking back and forth past us had any clue as to who was standing there pontificating on several societal issues past and present. Did no one else recognize that a Supreme Court Justice was casually conversing in the milk and juice section? I supposed that they too would have assumed that there would be bodyguards or Secret Service cats accompanying a Supreme Court Justice on a grocery run. Yet here he was, hand written list in hand and dutifully scratching off it's contents between texts.

As the conversation began run it's course and wind down, he said to me "You mentioned that you have kids. How old are they?" I replied that they were 6 and 3 years old. I could see that he was in thought for a second, then he said "Do you have a piece of paper?" as he reached in his breast pocket for a pen. I did not and replied in the negative. I didn't even have my cell phone having left it in the car. "Give me that Cheerios box" he said. As he began to write on it's top he said, "Your kids are a bit too young to understand now, but when they get a few years older you give me a call. I'll arrange a tour of my office and the Supreme Court." He wrote his name, his assistant's and his office number on the Honey Nut Cheerios box. I was completely floored by the offer, but at the same time the opportunist in me kicked in. "In that case may I arrange a tour for any age appropriate kids at my church who may be interested?" I asked. "You're damn straight you can" was his unexpected reply.

At that point we both headed for the self checkout and talked a bit more. He mentioned the Trayvon Martin situation and said that he was waiting to hear the whole story and dissect the facts before coming to any conclusions. "That's my job" he said. "Deal with the facts...only the facts, and act accordingly". As much as I wanted to I didn't ask him about the Anita Hill scandal or the health care hearings. The former because it would be crass, the latter because at the time he was in the middle of it and probably wouldn't be comfortable speaking on it.

As we both headed to our vehicles, he again asked me my name and said that it was a pleasure meeting and speaking with me. I affirmed the same. "Maybe I'll run into you here again" I said. "It's likely" he said. "I'm in here shopping 2/3 times a month. You make sure you call me about that tour, ok?" I affirmed that I would, said my goodbyes and watched him head for the parking lot. As a bonified auto aficionado, I HAD to know what a Supreme Court Justice worth tens of millions drives on the regular. I watched as he headed toward a gleaming white, brand new Range Rover...then opened the rear hatch to place his groceries in the decade old Saturn LW300 station wagon parked next to it. A lesson in how the rich stay rich.

The inconspicuous and plain Saturn LW300 wagon. A great grocery getter no doubt.

In my encounter with Clarence Thomas, he proved to be a erudite, likeable, regular guy with a whole lot of his Georgia country roots showing through in his mannerisms. The fact that he also sits in a seat of power that can change the course of the country was not lost on me. I came away from the encounter with even more of an understanding of the fact that we are all regular people. He no longer seemed this detached gargantuan political entity, but he reminded me of that neighbor who you amicably disagree with on a lot of things but always invite over to watch the game or when you're cooking out.