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MADISON “MADDIE” DEHLER
5:30 P.M. SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2011
CHRISTMAS POINT WILD RICE COMPANY
14803 EDGEWOOD DRIVE NORTH, BAXTER
Minnesota weather could be wicked, and the news could be just as cruel. Let’s start with the weather. The bitter, arctic air bit down on my bare fingers as I fumbled for my keys. Good lord, it was 21 degrees! I understood it was December, but we just had 40-plus degrees three days in a row, and I was still mowing my lawn in November. The freezing wind burned my ears. I needed to keep a hat and gloves with me. Winter always came sooner than I was ready.
The Occupy Wall Street protests were ending, which was disheartening to me. Nobody I knew but me cared about this, primarily because they didn’t understand the significance of it. The protests were about the growing inequality between the wealthiest and the rest of us. Last year was the first time the top 1% of Americans had more money than the entire middle class combined (46% of the U.S. population). What people didn’t get was that the violence of the 1980s and 1990s was the result of a lack of opportunity for our poorest and, mark my words, it was coming back.
I started my car and rubbed my hands together, hoping somehow, they’d spontaneously combust. My back was aching from a long day of standing on the concrete floor at Fleet Farm, operating the cash register all day. On the upside, most people were in a good mood, which made the shift easier. I decided to call my husband, Tyson Hattie. For Ty, the biggest problem following my refusal to take his name, when we married, was the Minnesota Vikings football team. I should explain, keeping my birthname was nothing personal. I just didn’t want to be called “Maddie Hattie.” I pointed out that if he took my
