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Testing the Water
My kid brother John is the most diehard Trump supporter I know, a real MAGA guy. Me, I’m just a conservative Republican: I voted for Trump because he wasn’t Clinton, and I’ll vote for him again because he’s still not Clinton. But John loves the guy.
Last week, while I was back in Albuquerque visiting family, my brother and I decided to do something wildly out of character: go out to our favorite sandwich place — Schlotzsky’s — wearing our approval of President Trump on our sleeves (figuratively), and then stop at Starbucks for a cup of coffee.
That’s his hat I’m wearing: I don’t actually like Trump well enough to buy a hat, and anyway I think “MAGA” is an ugly acronym. But for the sake of the experiment I was happy to wear it.
The sandwiches were great. They always are: a Schlotzsky’s Original on sourdough with jalapeños is about as good as fast food gets, in my opinion. I got the large, 1,550 calories of spicy deliciousness. Then we headed to Starbucks, where I got what I always get, a large dark-roast, black, and he a medium medium roast with half-and-half. Don’t judge him: he’s a great guy and no sissy.
For the next hour, we sat in the chairs in front of Starbucks, basking in the mid-afternoon New Mexico sun … waiting for someone to say something.
We were approached twice. Shortly after we arrived, a shaggy 20-something Starbucks customer stepped away from his laptop, walked up to us, and said “thank you for being willing to support our President.” I thought that was an interesting phrasing, the “being willing” part, as if unobtrusively expressing support for a guy half the electorate voted for is somehow an act of political derring-do. But I think that’s the point we’ve reached.
Half an hour later an older fellow walked up and suggested that, if we stayed out in the sun, we were in danger of getting a tan. Rather than take that as a crack about our general pallor, I figured he was just a guy trying to express friendliness — at least, non-hostility — without actually voicing a political position. So we chatted for a minute or two about the unseasonably terrific weather, the possibility of an El Niño event this year (growing), and the state of the Albuquerque aquifer (improving, apparently). Then he wished us a nice weekend and was on his way.
That’s it. No one else accosted us or expressed any kind of disapproval. We got a few glances, but none that I could confidently characterize as critical or even uneasy.
New Mexico is a blue state, and I expected some kind of reaction. I was mentally prepared to be a model of civility, a calm voice of reason in the face of inchoate rage. The last thing I expected was to end the outing having experienced only positive feedback.
I wonder if the crazy people are less common than anecdote suggests.
Published in Politics
It was big of you to let her think she was in charge.
They have to be in charge of some things!
Yes. And, admit it, they’re pretty cute when they act all decisive.
I, um, would recommend a slightly more defensive approach to this experiment in Portland. You know, with ANTIFA running the place, and all…
Good on you a little bro. Push back on the #NeverTrump wackos and take back the night from the Lefty wing’s goon squads one block at a time.
A whole lot of ANTIFA wanna be bad-boys would not want to mess with the two of you. Of that and if nothing more, I am sure.
I don’t think they have to go that far – just up the road to Sante Fe should do.
Last I heard you were going to wear that to the gym. How did that go?
My husband was just talking to a guy today who wore his Trump hat when he went to pay his cable bill. Another woman who was there waited until she was called to the counter, and then turned to him and started to berate him, telling him he should be ashamed of himself for supporting Trump, because Trump, she said, is evil. He just looked at her and said, “Why don’t you mind your own business?” She said nothing more, and when he got to the counter, the girl behind the counter was very supportive of him: the girl behind the counter was a Trump supporter too. :)
As I’ve indicated, I am not a supporter. But the girl behind the counter was right. If I had been behind the counter, I would have been supportive of your husband too. All he wanted to do was pay his bill. How dare that woman acost him like that. It was none of her business. We are all Americans, and the Constitution gives us the right to support whomever we want. I disagree with your husband, but he should be free of harassment.
Krav Maga is an Israeli invention that means combat (krav) contact (maga) in Hebrew.
How appropriate that a whatever-it-takes New York street fighter like Trump should adopt an acronym serendipitously associated with hand to hand combat.
Thank you, George: It wasn’t my husband who was accosted, it was a guy he knows, but thank you, I totally agree with you :) Well, about everything except Trump-I am a supporter, you aren’t, but other than that, agree with you :)
Sorry, I misread it. I just wanted you to know that this is a strange time, I think, in America. If we can’t all live peacefully with one another, this great experiment in liberty will not survive another two hundred years. I believe strongly in what I believe. But I also believe we all need to engage with one another. That’s how we grow.
Hehe . . . I have to admit she had a good point. She pointed out I can get subs anywhere, so every meal we had in SF was either Mexican, Tex-Mex, or desert southwest style.
Like I said, next time . . .
You made a good choice. I spent half my growing up years in the desert southwest, and I love the food. Schlotzsky’s is a brother thing, or I’d have gone for a burrito.
The Silent Majority knows a good sammich.
I think its that most people actually don’t want a confrontation in their daily lives. On FaceBook or Twitter sure…let the vitriol fly, but in the parking lot at the grocery store? At the Starbucks? At the mall? Naw. Now, that doesn’t mean that many people didn’t silently condemn you and your brother for engaging in “wrongthink”, but they were too polite to actually say something to you. It sort of like keeping one’s hand communication with another driver below the sight line so as to not draw undue attention.
There is a fellow in the town where I live, 60/40 Red at the county level, but the town I live in is trending towards purple. He goes for a walk almost every day down the busiest road wearing an American flag as a cape and carrying a 4’x6′ TRUMP flag. He seems quite happy and I’ve never seen anyone bother him, but my wife and daughter call him an idiot under their breath each time they see him. They would never say that to his face, but its what they are thinking.
I like your map of the United States. At first glance I was trying to figure out North Washington. Then I read closer and saw that it was Norfolk.
My wife and her girlfriend and I were in a Starbucks about two years ago in Cleveland. My wife and her friend are both Jewish and we were discussing Israel in a complimentary way. When we exited the cafe, a guy followed us to our car and approached me and said something like “Hey, I heard you guys talking about Israel in there. Did you know that two of their Prime Ministers were terrorists and Israel is an apartheid State?” Before I could get an answer out, the womenfolk were pouncing on the guy’s declaration and a minor Middle-East verbal conflict erupted about the merits of Israel.
Eventually I had to break up the fight and go on our way because it is just useless arguing with a Lefty who doesn’t know basic facts.
I saw that map at the US Military Academy in their Geography Department. Really cool map.