Week 7: Reading Response: The Road is Very Unfair

I really enjoyed this piece by Ted Conover. I think he did an amazing job in letting the characters speak for themselves. He would observe them and then ask them a simple question, and they would respond the most craziest things I ever heard. All the quotes about their views about AIDS shocks me. They are very aware of it, but they still don't protect themselves. The character that I feel stands out the most is Obadiah. He was a smart man who knew much, but still didn't protect himself.

What I like about this piece is the fact that Conover stuck to only talking about the activities that occurred every time they would take a break of something happened to the truck. The only time he mentioned something about the ride is when talking about the road and how bumpy and damaged it is.

I like how every time he stopped at a hotel he would describe the beds. One can picture the unsafe activities that occurred on those beds that were so dirty and that had mosquitoes flying all around. What I find really interesting is the fact that throughout the piece, Conover kept saying things about the mosquitoes and then almost towards the end, he connected them to AIDS, which I thought was brilliant (First paragraph on page 341). The talk about the lotion being a form of protection from mosquitoes and the fact that even if you do wear it, you will still get one unlucky mosquito bite. It ties to AIDS and wearing condoms for protection.

This piece is full of great context and a lot of imagery and quotes. I read the entire story from beginning to end in one sit, and not a lot of writers can make me do that.