Yep, I wear it to church on Sundays. The exasperated lawyer tries another tack. The cowboy shuffles his muddy boots. Well, I can't have a meaningful conversation with her.
Common knowledge is that slippery thing that makes meaningful conversation possible.
Collective memory enables us to read between the lines, to approach each other on common ground. A noted Colorado historian is among those asking that question, but the answer isn't easy, especially in a place defined by great geographic, philosophical and cultural distances. Twenty-five different dialects are spoken on the Colorado Plateau alone. Myth and reality are interchangeable - and many Westerners like it that way. Just up the road from the birthplace of the Atomic Age, some folks still rely on outdoor plumbing.