November 23, 2020
In my never ending search for peace, the tragedy of our nation.. and the hopefulness of our recovery as. thankfully.. these past four years fade away, I've reached out to a few of my republican high school classmates to see how they are doing and to reach a hand in friendship.
Silly me.
I'll stop naming names, as that seems to stir the hornets' nest. but.. one woman.. really needs to have some of her story told. She lives in Virginia. Her husband is falling into dementia and her little dog barks a lot. She does not sound college educated nor sophisticated. Not dumb.. Just a basic person in Virginia. I asked her what qualities she found 'good' in the now departing president. She declared that "it's not over" and that she liked 45's stand on killing Roe vs Wade. She decided that 45's locker room chat with Billy Bush was just 'bragging.'
The kicker is that in my last email, being as civil as I could be, telling her that she and another woman classmate who has been somewhat responsive that I cared about them and hoped that things would be good for us all now. She responded rather curtly saying that if I cared for them, these two old classmates.. would I come and rescue them from the 'concentration camp' she expected to be incarcerated in! The terrible thing is that I don't think she meant this as a metaphor. Of course, in email we have no tone of voice or facial expression. It was a short sentence and I read it literally.
If the entrenched followers of 45 and the crazy stuff that has been going on keep going on, what can civilized folks do to calm the storm? Another classmate was upset by what seemed to be my campaigning Blue in the one note that I sent to all my classmates. In fact that was not the case, I was just asking a simple question. "For whom will you vote?" I did declare that I was voting Blue, which set off the criticism from a couple of the guys who called me names.. I've mentioned that previously. It hurt my feelings a bit, but I consider the source..and must fault some Democrats I know for making up names for the followers of 45 and the guy himself. I don't play that. But, struggling to ask angry liberals to cut it out seemed like a tiresome job.. so.. on Facebook, I just ignore those angry posts and hope that as President Biden takes the reins for our country, that we'll lick this C19 and get the reputation of the USA back into the world instead of walling our country into isolation.
My classmate who interpreted my asking for whom folks would vote as campaigning told me on the phone recently that she wanted nothing to do with politics and that she had been 'yelled at' by a supporter of the Democrats. She sounded literally upset by the prospect of having to discuss any of it. I so wanted to ask her if she noted the disrespect and lack of compassion in the bluster of 45, but resisted. She's a beautiful woman who has a life beyond the negativity that upsets her and that's just okay with me.
I still have to have a chat with my old pal from Greeley who hung up on me recently. He is a typical super conservative and uses interesting analogies to prove a point. He compared having his name on a list of donors for Biden/Harris to being accused of killing puppies and kittens and hanging them from a clothesline in his yard.. or being a member of the KKK. This kind of thinking .. when folks really believe this.. is irrefutable. It's like religious beliefs that are in us from childhood that critical thinking never questions. So? What to do?
What to do?
As the plague rages on?
First! Stay healthy.
Mentally Awake is good health, too...
Pay attention and hydrate. Other than that, we are all ..each of us.. on our own.
Me? I want theatre and movies back. We can find a way. The powers that be must consider that the food for bodies is important and equally important is our social connections: connecting safely is food for the spirit. It, too, is vital.
If you know me in real life? Hear my voice as you read this. It's time for healing wounds and moving forward. Be part of that, please.
michael sheehan
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