Points of Interest

He is both blessing and curse, the over-friendly passenger who tells you that for the last six months he has been working in Alaska to pay off his five credit cards, and as soon as he quit he ordered just as many gun magazines to begin the cycle again.

“Old dog, no new tricks yet!” he cackles. 

You like it when people are friendly and open, only now he is pointing out with the rote mastery of a tour guide sites of value, the 118 Freeway to through Simi Valley, for example.
My own notes on the place went unheard, as I mention its part in the Rodney King verdict, and for having an unseemly goth population despite the desert-like heat. A little later, he points out the Reagan Library. 

“See, see! The Ronald Reagan Library, you can visit it!” 

Disappointing him with my lack of reaction, perhaps he takes me for another American freeloader. I don’t aim to please, so neglect to tell him that I did once make the pilgrimage, years ago, shortly after it was built. 
A friend and I never made it past the parking lot, admiring the view, and after we determined it was the thing to do, my friend relieved himself on a corner of the building. 

“Still, every American really ought to visit just once.”