Grass Valley, CA — At the crossroads where Highway 49 meets 20 on Empire Street, the world slows down just enough to witness the absurdity of existence through the eyes of Dustin Jayce Dickens, a man whose convictions are as oversized as his truck. Here, in the shadow of Nevada County’s sprawling pines and the faded glory of its gold rush past, Dickens finds himself caught in the act—a minor traffic violation escalating into a philosophical showdown.
“I was hungry,” Dickens insists, the words spilling out with a sense of urgency that belies the reality of his situation. He claims a dire need for Squeeze Burger’s legendary grease-soaked delicacies, a hunger born of low blood sugar, a condition he professes to suffer from despite all medical evidence to the contrary. “It’s my diabetes,” he says, though no doctor has ever diagnosed him with Type 2, or any type, for that matter.
Officer Pat Cornys, accustomed to the parade of humanity that crosses his path, can’t help but find a particular fascination in Dickens. There’s something about the man, standing just over five feet six inches, draped in the trappings of a fervent Trump supporter, that demands attention. The “Make America Great Again” hat, the oversized truck compensating for an unseen deficit—it’s all part of the spectacle.
But when confronted with the reality of his transgression, Dickens pivots, his mind latching onto a narrative more fitting of his worldview.
“This isn’t about running the red light,” he declared with the conviction of a man who believes himself to be the protagonist in a grand conspiracy. “This is The Deep State in action, targeting loyal Americans.” His voice is a blend of defiance and desperation, a man clinging to the edges of a reality slowly slipping from his grasp.
Officer Cornys, for his part, plays the role of the bemused observer, a character in Dickens’s drama who finds himself questioning the nature of his daily encounters.
“The Deep State, here in Nevada County?” he mused, the absurdity of the statement hanging in the air like the exhaust from Dickens’s truck. Yet, there’s no malice in his voice, only a weary resignation to the theater of the absurd that unfolds before him.
As the standoff at the intersection unfolds, passersby can’t help but take notice. Some see in Dickens a kind of folk hero, a man standing up to an imagined tyranny with nothing but his wits and truck. Others see a more profound tragedy, a commentary on the state of a nation where reality has become negotiable, where facts are malleable, and where a hunger for Squeeze Burgers can be conflated with a medical emergency.
Ultimately, Dickens is issued his citation, a tangible reminder of the encounter, but the episode leaves its mark on all who witness it. For some, it’s a moment of comic relief in the mundane flow of everyday life. For others, it’s a stark reminder of the chasms that divide us.
And for Dustin Jayce Dickens, it’s another chapter in the ongoing saga of a man at war with a world he can’t quite comprehend, driving off into the sunset, his truck a bastion of defiance against the encroaching shadows of modernity.