Gallup was, let's say, "in the right part of the batting order" on this trip. I know this sounds unbelievable, but we'd had too much Mexican and Southwestern food by this point in the trip. We'd looked at too many crappy flea markets and overpriced antique shops. So we went to the Navajo Flea Market in Gallup.
What we did see were Navajo. And if we hadn't been so so tired by this point, we would've immediately Googled things like "Navajo why all same eyeglasses" and "Navajo why heavy metal shirts" and "Navajo diabetes rate".
You know, you hear things from people you know who live out here. And not living out here yourself and having no occasion to encounter Native Americans in your usual holiday business, you just kind of casually and gradually build a profile or dossier that makes up your impression of a people, without ever having met any of them in real life.
"They've got plenty of money, they just don't manage it very well" is something I've heard repeatedly. My first-hand encounter didn't look like mismanaged money. Well I'm not even sure what that looks like, but I'd imagine something more along the lines of Die Antwoord or some other psychoghetto rap crew.
This looks like depression. Serious, polite, semi-embarrassed maybe. More on this when I can make full sentences.
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