Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. Did a circle tour of Grand Lake St. Mary, the largest inland lake in Ohio. We appeared on the front pages of St. Mary’s and Celinas newspapers, then headed to Coldwater where I stumped with the regulars at the Main Street Cafe there. The reason I remember it was the Main street Cafe is because I am just now looking at a pen that says: “This pen has been stolen from: Main Street Cafe, Coldwater, Ohio.” Busted. Owner Pat “Buck” Rosenbeck had given us a free dinner as a campaign donation (great food). And as the campaign donations continued, Tim Axe in St. Mary’s then put a new rotor on the van and some steering aparatus “idler arms.” But I couldn’t stay ‘idle’ (sorry), and we headed further south to St. Henry’s where we were met by a reporter from Indiana who wanted to shadow us for the day. At St. Henry’s, I stumped at Fishmo Restaurant and owner Matt Stelzer told me the end zone sign (still working) he has out in front of his place is from the old high school stadium. “I only post the score if St. Henry’s wins,” Stelzer smiled. “People feel like I’m rubbing it in if I post a losing score.” And although it looks like we are still losing, I’m not one to give up. So we then headed to Greenville, Ohio, where we were interviewed by the editor there. He asked about practically all my positions in, perhaps, one of the most indepth interviews I’ve had recently. Then we headed into Cincinnati the next day where I gave a talk in a theology class at Xavier University. I talked on the economy: I said if you’re shopping at Wal Mart (K-Mart, Target…) for the cheapest prices — “you could be destroying families in Mexico.” I said after the North American Free Trade Agreement passed, the Mexican government stopped subsidizing the small family farmer in the interior of Mexico. The farmer and his family(s) then moved to the border to work in the factories that had gone up after NAFTA. (The government had needed a work force for all the factories.) Trouble is on a recent research trip to Juarez, Mexico we learned: the Mexican farmers, the wives… get a phenomenally low $3 a shift, so some parents are working two shifts, living in cobbled together shacks and their children are roaming the street. “All because we want stuff cheaper,” I said. “Does any of this sound spiritual?” I asked the theology students. And while I could tell I didn’t have all their votes — I did have their intention.