No idea what forum to put this in, so please relocate if need be.
Noticed some posters (kron? begbert2?) living, I think, in Idaho, and this curious Canuck was wondering how they and others who live in red states abide with situations like in restaurants or basically any public place where there’s a strong liklihood of crossing paths with Trumpoids.
I’m truly thankful that I’ve yet to see a single MAGA hat, ever, in my hometown, and have never had to deal with talking to a supporter, and currently knocking on wood that that remains so.
I try to imagine down south, walking into any establishment and seeing MAGA hats, and then gag.
Is it harrying? Or just a mild, one-or-two-times-a-month nuisance? Or can you completely shut it all out and get by fine, and not letting it stress you?
I don’t live in a red state, but I do live in a red household.
Honestly, my strategy is to just not let it bother me. Living with right-leaners on a daily basis has made me realize that arguing with them won’t really lead you anywhere. The most you can get from them is an “agree-to-disagree,” from my experience.
Funny thing about this ridiculous question is when I visited Vancouver, I ran into Canadians who were originally immigrants who were Trump supporters. They just didn’t wear the lovely hats.
No, not the slightest bit a ridiculous question, at all. Weak anecdotal comparison - thanks for playing.
ETA: I rarely post in this forum, and will remember that if I try to quote a post that immediately precedes mine, that an orange edit icon will inexplicably appear on my post. (shrug)
I smoke a whole lot of weed. I also deliberately piss them off so badly that their faces turn red and all they can do is scream incoherently. I’m probably going to get myself killed some day, but everyone needs a hobby, right?
I think you have some very strange ideas about what life in red states is like. In the past five years, I have seen a grand total of one person wearing a MAGA hat while out and about (well, specifically, to class in my classroom. This is not an especially popular political position on our campus, and I dunno if the student was trying to get a rise out of people, or if he just felt like wearing a hat that day and that was the one he had.) Bumper stickers and yard signs, yes, but it’s not like people randomly walk around in political gear if they’re not going to a rally or other political event.
Anyway, I don’t actually find it stressful to be in public spaces with people who disagree with me politically; I pretty much assume this is going to be the case in any public space, whether the people choose to advertise it or not.
I’ve never lived in one, and have to go by the news and the odd post I see here. (Not sure how many actual ideas I’ve promulgated, so far, here.)
Sure. I’m trying to home in on actual interactions in the public space, or, some areas might suddenly start to post a lot more (or a lot less) signs, or any other curious trends of that note.
As predicted Biden won my state pretty handily but there were still almost 2 million Trump voters here. And I live in a red county. Trump supporters tend to have more signs. They tend to post more stupid shit on social media. On a day to day basis that’s about it.
I deal with people flying (or wearing) their Trump flag daily at work. For the most part, it’s not an issue. I just don’t bring up/discuss politically divisive topics with them.
Once in a great while one of them walks into the store with a chip on his shoulder and seems to want to cause trouble, but that’s abated considerably since January 20 for some reason… (If you’re not clear on that - that’s the date Joe Biden was inaugurated as President)
@Kron lives in Wyoming. I hope he sees this and joins in. I moved away a few months before the 2016 election, but my friends who still live in WY fill me in. There were many, many MAGA hats worn around town when I left. I hear there are far fewer now, but Trump is still very popular there. (The MAGA hats are pretty passé by now.) And yes, most locals believe Trump really won the 2020 election.
One of my friends is a secretary at one of the schools. She’s said she often feels like she’s going to explode from keeping her angry reactions inside all day, as she hears a lot of pro-Trump BS and can’t respond. Right now she’s furious because though she got COVID early on AND got vaccinated, she got the Delta variant (which wasn’t as bad as her first round of COVID, thanks to the vaccine). The vast majority of residents are anti-vaxx/anti-mask, so she blames them for her illness.
Another friend teaches high school. She’s a cancer survivor, so she wears a mask, but she’s gotten grief about it from Trumpster parents who seem to see a mask as a badge of liberalism.
If we were talking about some sort of basic political disagreement, sure. I live in a red state, but I’m very much not conservative. I’m used to people not agreeing with me politically. But being a Trump supporter in 2021 is a different ballgame.
By far the biggest issue for me is that Venn diagram of Trump supporters and antimasker/antivaxers is basically a circle. So, while their supporting Trump doesn’t directly affect me, or even something I notice, I can see the lack of masks in an area where the CDC recommends them. And I find that very stressful.
Sure, some of those are likely vaccinated people who are less risk averse than the CDC recommends. But the numbers of unvaxxed in my area are too high for those to be anything but a minority. And I’ve explained way too often the reason I feel uneasy around these people.
Fortunately, I still follow the CDC guidelines about not going out unless I need to. The exception is getting together with people who I know and trust, who are vaccinated and take this thing seriously. So my answer is just that I don’t actually face them too often. The few people who come to my house I’m able to just say “wear a mask.”
I do marvel how people who do face these people can face people who ignore the deaths of 700,000 people and who believe the party over their eyes and ears–and yet not at least feel uneasy around them. I assume it’s just due to desensitization. And, of course, knowing you are vaccinated and are doing what you can to keep yourself safe.
(And sorry that this post is probably longer than it needed to be. I have a chronic need to explain myself. Plus I also likely vented a bit.)
I live in a blue county in a red state. Its more of an urban/rural divide than a blue/red state divide.
There are a lot of angry, vocal Trump supporters I’ve met but many are just people who occasionally vote and when they voted they voted Trump. They don’t make untethered rage over white replacement
be the basis of their identity.
For the most part I’ve just learned to accept it. As long as they can’t bring fascism to the US I’m happy to have us go our separate ways ideologically.
Your campus isn’t the same as living out in rural Arizona, so I guess I have to say that we have had different experiences. I don’t live on a college campus and my experiences have been pretty opposite of yours.
Out this way, trumpies think that anyone wearing a facemask is the enemy and enjoy getting close while shouting in faces. I’ve watched two cars getting vandalized by trump truckers. trump trucks are filled with rednecks and have at least 2 flags mounted in the truck bed. I watched a trumper spray paint
TRUMP WON FUCK YOUR FEELINGS on the community center. I called the police every time and offered to send videos, but nobody ever got back to me.
I totally would NOT put a Biden bumper sticker on my car. I had my driver’s side mirror kicked of my car when I had a Obama sticker on it and driving home without a mirror wasn’t fun. Driving home with a kicked out windshield would be worse.
I was doing some grocery shopping when a MAGA hat jerk started following me around and yelling that masks don’t work and that I was going to drip the vaccine on him. I felt so threatened that I left my cart in the check out line and walked out the door. Nobody seemed to notice or care, but none of them were wearing masks so they probably agreed with MAGA hat asshole.
Living in Boise ID. No, people are just “normal” on average, if you don’t look too closely at the stickers on their cars. However, I’ve been fearful of putting out political signage in my yard in support of my chosen candidates the last few elections, local, state and national levels all. Afraid I’d come home to find my house vandalised, burned down maybe with Ms Roomie trapped inside and dead perhaps. I’m fearful for my parents continued well being as Idaho grows more and more stupid and tries to be Texas and or Florida. Masks are reccomended but not required unless you’re not vaccinated, and I see very few people wearing them, yet we have one of the lowest vax rates in the country and were among the first states to enact critical care standards for medicial facilities. I have the conversation about once a week with the folks about them moving to a different state, perhaps coastal Oregon. One of these days Dad with have something go wrong or Mom will fall down and they won’t be able to get the care they need.
On a day to day basis, I’m doin ok, try not to watch the local insanity report, news that is, too much. Not good for my blood pressure or peace of mind. I’d be gone already if it weren’t for Vaderling, living somewhere sane, even if it meant poverty conditions living in my car.
Red state dweller here. I’m in the middle of Trumpland, and my state officials are Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell.
I see plenty of Trump gear on a daily basis. I see people who believe that the election was stolen. I see people proudly rejecting mask mandates and suggestions.
None of my circle of friends voted for Trump. A metric fuckton of my relatives did.
I will confess to occasionally trying to get a rise out of people with a pithy comment, or a joke at Trump’s expense. Mostly I get asked why I didn’t vote for Trump, or McConnell, or why I’m pro-choice or an agnostic.
They usually find my answers lacking because I don’t think that they can conceive how someone wouldn’t agree with their views.