Posted on 08/04/2024 8:25:23 AM PDT by MtnClimber
I walk my dogs around my town twice a day. I’ve always known it was a 96% white and 99% liberal town. It’s the kind of California town with yoga studios and health food stores. The rules are very strict. My brother, who is building a house here, had to go to court three times to fight for a gas stove in his new house. It’s the kind of place that has those lawn signs, you know:
I’ve lived here for about a year. I am ordinarily a city girl, but there are reasons for me to be here right now. It’s been strange getting used to the slower way of life. I don’t exactly fit in.
But I know the vibe because I grew up in California. This is the hybrid-driving, green juice-drinking, MSNBC-watching utopia. It’s the kind of place where there is no crime to speak of, no abused pets tied up in the yard. It hardly ever rains. There are birds everywhere. You’d almost think you were in a David Lynch movie.
I don’t mind it too much. It’s beautiful and clean, and I don’t have to worry about my car being stolen. No sirens are blaring, and no helicopters are flying over.
I often see the same people out walking their dogs. Most of them are very friendly. Every so often, there is an angry person. As much as they want to project a loving and tolerant attitude, if you break the rules, they will come for you.
I’ve been chatting with a woman who walks her dog around town. She’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. After I broke my arm, she advised me on how to exercise it back to health. She is a Pilates teacher. We always say hello and have been doing so for a while.
Today, our conversation went a little deeper than usual. It was something about getting old and how fast time goes by the older you get. And it’s true. It does. I said to her, “I can’t believe it’s Friday already.”
Then she said, “Things are getting so scary. November is coming.” I pretended not to know what she was talking about. I didn’t add to the conversation or pretend to agree. I just said, “And it’s so hot.”
“We do seem to have just gotten some hope,” she said. I imagine that to her, hope means Kamala Harris now has the nomination. Again, I said nothing. What could I say? “It was looking dire for a while there,” and that I took to mean Biden, she believed, could not beat Trump.
I didn’t say, “Can you believe Donald Trump was shot just 13 days ago?” I couldn’t say that. I could not ding her hope, what little she had. I quickly pivoted again, “I can’t believe Summer is almost over! It’s July!”
We’d reached a door we could not open, a conversation we could not have. I realized it was expected that I was in her tribe. I fit the demographic. I live in this town. It would never occur to her that someone like me might not agree with her that a Kamala Harris presidency represents hope. Quite the opposite.
I smiled, and we tried to continue our conversation, but I left shortly after that, leaving the odd conversation hanging in the air. She would no doubt think about it and wonder why I didn’t go further. Did she not understand what I meant, she might wonder. Would that thought take her further?
She might google me and find out pretty quickly why I said nothing. Then what? Would she still say hello to me? Would she still invite to come and do yoga with her and a group of women once a week? I’d like to think so, but I don’t know.
It just made me think how strange our lives are now, how we are on such opposite sides, and how our votes could instantly end a potential friendship. I could hear her explaining it later to her boyfriend, “Then I found out she was a Trump supporter.”
If I could be honest with her, I would try to tell her that there is nothing to fear with Trump, that it’s a media narrative that got out of hand and inadvertently caused a mass hysteria event that we’re still not all the way through. I’ve tried to have that conversation with so many people over the years, but it has never gone well.
My dog Jack is funny. When I see he’s scared, I always say, “It’s okay, Jack.” But somehow, telling him that always makes him more anxious. To him, his fear is something he won’t give up, certainly not if I try to tell him that he has nothing to fear.
The same would be true if I tried to tell this woman that the truth awaits on the other side of the delusion. She would do what my dog does: Glance back at me before trying to get away as fast as she could.
And so went my Friday morning.
In the other America, Trump is headed back to Butler, PA. What a great thing to do.
I know how she feels. I used to live near Boulder, Colorado.
I sympathize with the author 💯.
It is interesting that lefties assume everyone around them agrees with them.
We would never make that obvious error.
Self editing is what they have been hammering us to do. If we give in, they’ll own the culture and will will continue to degrade it to the point of anarchy.
We are fighting for the future of America. Speak the truth plainly and let the chips fall where they may.
I’ve seen those signs in the liberal enclave of Jonesborough, Tennessee...in the heart of ‘conservative’ East Tennessee.
There are many who like living under totalitarian conditions.
In such countries, those that do are like the people she met. The rest are in prison or dead.
Why must we feel afraid to be proud of who we support and vote for? We should get in their faces and talk over them just as much as they do to us...
“ it’s a media narrative that got out of hand and inadvertently caused a mass hysteria event that we’re still not all the way through. ”
Inadvertently?
I don’t think so.
Yup! We are WAY more tolerant. Or do we just recognize mentally disturbed folks easier. And take pity.
Euclid Avenue in Cleveland was once a beautiful street.
Woodward Avenue in Detroit has I believe five mansions still standing.
I’m sure it’s not hard to find once nice neighborhoods in Chicago.
No, she won't still say hello to you. I have had conversations with liberals/dems, and they all go the same way: the moment you challenge them on something, and throw a few actual facts at them, they say things like "I don't want to talk about this anymore", or "This is a pointless conversation."
They are the most closed-minded, intolerant people on earth. Ironically, they believe themselves to be just the opposite.
I’m in MA so can confirm.
I think it’s common knowledge that Conservatives can state Leftist viewpoints on issues with no difficulty. Why is abortion good? Why is the death penalty bad? Why should guns be banned? Why is green energy awesome? I know their positions on these matters just as well as they do, because their positions are hammered at me all day long.
Do they have any idea what my position is? No. It’s a mystery. Trump and all the other Conservatives are just Nazis. Consumed with hate. That’s all there is to say about it.
They might learn a little bit if they were willing to have a conversation. But I suppose that’s exactly why they aren’t willing to have a conversation.
Many Silicon Valley workers and executives might eventually feel more at home in India.
Many people not of European stock have a choice even after Election Day 2024.
She never names the town. Why? Grade school “journalism. “
Yes, I love them all, but I will not condone the behavior of all of them as some of them should be deeply ashamed of what they do.
And I will not pretend that all behavior is normal, and I won’t pretend that killing an innocent human being should be allowed.
Right size your business.
Retire if you can.
Spend down your assets.
Make sure your offspring have a skill another country would want.
When you encounter people like this, you simply nod your head and move on.
Because, they are psychologically impervious to reality. My next door neighbor is like that, a dumbass!
I can imagine, when the SHTF these people will be like animals trapped in a cage, running hither and yon, not knowing whether to sh*t or go blind!
>>> Then she said, “Things are getting so scary. November is coming.” I pretended not to know what she was talking about. I didn’t add to the conversation or pretend to agree. I just said, “And it’s so hot.”
“We do seem to have just gotten some hope,” she said. I imagine that to her, hope means Kamala Harris now has the nomination. Again, I said nothing. What could I say? “It was looking dire for a while there,” and that I took to mean Biden, she believed, could not beat Trump.
I didn’t say, “Can you believe Donald Trump was shot just 13 days ago?” I couldn’t say that. I could not ding her hope, what little she had. I quickly pivoted again, “I can’t believe Summer is almost over! It’s July!”
We’d reached a door we could not open, a conversation we could not have. I realized it was expected that I was in her tribe. I fit the demographic. I live in this town. It would never occur to her that someone like me might not agree with her that a Kamala Harris presidency represents hope. Quite the opposite.
I smiled, and we tried to continue our conversation, but I left shortly after that, leaving the odd conversation hanging in the air. She would no doubt think about it and wonder why I didn’t go further. Did she not understand what I meant, she might wonder. Would that thought take her further?
<<<
Sasha... fits right in.
Most white liberals don't live anywhere near the problems which their bone-headed policies have created.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.