Fighting Over Mt. Rushmore

SUMMER, 1987. I was thirty two years old, chilling in the back seat, cruising along the highway with three other dudes, through South Dakota, on our way to Yellowstone. All these years later, I can still remember how pumped up I was. Suddenly, a highway sign said "Mt. Rushmore, twenty five miles. Exit,ten miles." We had made no plans to visit Mt.Rushmore, nobody hd said anything about it.It was not on the itinerary. But suddenly, presented with an unexpected opportunity, we three passengers wanted to go, wanted to take the unexpected exit, and go a little bit out of our way, and see the famous Mt. Rushmore and its four iconic presidential heads carved out of the mountain. Who wouldnt? Only the driver, in whose SUV we were riding, who was doing all the driving, who was paying for most of the trip, refused to do it. "This was not part of the plan. Its twenty five miles out of our way. Mt. Rushmore is an abomination, a desecration of nature to honor four white imperialist genocidal conquerors of native American civilization". That was his argument, and he was not going to budge. The other two passengers, big, strong, assertive guys, argued like fury for the ten minutes or so that it took us to pass the exit. It seemed like forever, but it must have lasted about ten minutes. It was loud. Although I was on their side, I could see both sides, and I remained quiet. We will never have this chance again! my fellow passengers screamed, passionately, accurately. Finally, mercifully, the tornadic argument was over. We had passed the exit, and we were not going to turn around, as we got farther away from the stone faced former presidents, and ploughed straight ahead towards Yellowtone National Park. I felt a sense of devastation and relief, as people must have felt at the end of world War Two. Finally, the great Rushmore war was over. I recall at the time understanding and agreeing with the obstinate driver, agreeing with his point of view about the horrible destruction of nature and glorification of genocidal imperialists that Mt. rushmore truly is. I still agree with this point of view. Leave the damned mountain alone,and keep the European-American tyrants off of it. Well, its too late for that, and after all, no matter what my beliefs are, no matter how sanctimoniously I hold my high minded opinions, and no matter how fervantly the driver of the SUV does likewise, the fact remains: Mt. Rushmore is there, will be there, presidential heads and all, for at least a billion years. And, it is a fact, undeniable, that the carvings are indeed truly impressive, well done, and they are iconic, world famous. Today, thirty seven years later, we four have all evolved from young middle aged men to old senior citizen men. My view remains the same. We should have gone to Mt. Rushmore, despite the inconvenience, despite the firm, unshakable conviction of the driver that we would not, should not. The driver should have acquiesced to the deisre of his friends, democratically. When driving hundreds of milse across country, what are twenty five more miies? Do we not live in a democracy? Does taking your vehicle, doing he driving and paying for a trip make you a deserving, justified dictator of a road trip? The absolute obstinacy of the driver was a tribute not to high moral principle or vacation planning, but rather, to his control freak obsession, which he retains to this day. Now I am sixty nine years old. I know for a fact that I will never live to see Mt. Rushmore. My loss.