Yes, it was The Sound of Music, here is a short (13 second) video showing it.
I “cut off” a pedestrian in a marked walking lane in a parking lot just now because I was distracted for incredibly stupid reasons. No collision, but the man was upset for obvious and justifiable reasons.
It’s sticking with me because it does offer some perspective on anxiety. I worry (rightfully) about the election having a negative impact on my life, and then go and do something stupid entirely within my control that very well could have done the same thing!
It also makes me wonder if this incident makes me a “bad person.” Obviously, it probably depends greatly on what your definition of that phrase is, but I think you get my train of thought here…
I was watching it on my phone when my Take Out of Chinese & Japanese came.
Here was my fortune.
( So could it be? My President Joe Biden? My Vice-President Kamala Harris? Senator Casey? Senator Fetterman? Andy Kim? Oh, my heart is a-flutter! )
“May I Live in Interesting Times”
I had my car door open, and a bicyclist plowed right into it. Now, I commute and ride for fun on busy streets, and I study every parked car. If one’s occupied, I watch for movement and give as far to the left as I can.
So I think the biker should have seen a huge open door, but I still feel bad. The crazy thing is, neither he nor the bike was hurt, and he just cussed a bit as he extricated himself and kept riding. But I’ve felt guilty for ten years now!
Service to my community or my country
We got dispatched to a big, multi-alarm fire but I hadn’t yet voted & knew if I went I wouldn’t be able to.
I voted. They’re on their way back home now, 2+ hrs after the polls closed.
Good on you!
C->F:double and add 30 (32 if you want to up the difficulty just a smidge)
F->C:subtract 30 (32 if you want to up the difficulty just a smidge) and halve
Close enough to tell you if you need a coat or turn on the AC.
My local McD’s had them off the menu. When I went yesterday for 2-1 special on Big Macs, they had a sign that they were back, no sliced onions, dehydrated onions available on request (presumably rehydrated, like on the standard burger).
I’m fucking pissed about voting yesterday & have filed a complaint about it. The poll workers totally fucked it up…as I have now learned that they have for every election for the past couple of years since we got these voting machines.
We used to have state-of-the-art electronic machines but they changed a couple of years ago due to audit / security reasons. Now, when we go into polling place & sign in you’re handed a 8½ x 11" paper ballot, a sharpie & a folder where you walk over to a three-sided booth & make your choices before putting it in the folder & walking over to the tabulation machine where it’s fed in & counted. That way, if there’s any issue, there is a paper ballot that they can go back & manually count if necessary.
Except in my polling location, the poll worker always takes the folder from me & takes the ballot & feeds it into the machine. I’ve never felt comfortable with this but yesterday the poll worker was someone I know. They are only supposed to touch those people who ask them for assistance in feeding it in & even then, they are supposed to keep the folder over top of it so that they can’t see the ballot
Now I’m not stating that he did such but it would only be human nature to look at that top corner (president) & see how I voted. I did not have a secret ballot!!!
With the poll-arity (Ha!) between the two sides that is totally unacceptable given that I haven’t talked about my political beliefs & how I was going to vote.
In additional to all the craziness in the world and other stress in my life, I just found out that one of my college classmates died earlier this month. We were in college choir together which was a year round class with bi-weekly rehearsals, so not just someone you happened to have with you for one semester in class. I also feel it a bit more keenly, not just because we are close to the same age, but also because I met and spoke to her father on multiple occasions and I can’t imagine what he is feeling.
Anyway, the month is not yet in its double digits, so there is hope things will improve from here on out.
//i\\
My son is in middle school here in a small town Japan.
One of boys is discovering girls for the first time and now his mother is trying to tell the mothers of the girls to police their clothes because “it’s distracting”.
None of the girls are wearing anything inappropriate. It’s the age-old, blame the girls and not teach the boys to control themselves.
Grrrr. I’m pushing back.
I Lose A Friend- Long
I learned that a large portion of Hispanic/Latino voters voted for Trump. This confused the hell out of me. I have at least 3 Hispanic/Latino friends on my friends list on Facebook. I made a post asking my friends in general and those three in particular if they could help me understand why these voters would choose a candidate who obviously hates them so much. I got a few responses, some helpful some not, from various friends. But, I didn’t hear anything from those three. So, I shared the post with each of them individually in a text message. I included a message that I didn’t consider them other or unamerican. I didn’t expect them to magically know the minds of other people. But being connected to the culture and community they might have a much better idea than I did.
Two have not responded yet. One responded right away. He said that ‘Neither candidate was liked. They voted for the person who would make things more affordable ’ I asked why they would ever vote for somebody who hates them so very much? That moment is when I found out the horrible truth. My Hispanic/Latino friend had voted Trump! He was angry and defended his vote by saying ‘I voted for the one who will make things affordable, instead of the one who has made everything worse in the past four years.’ I gave a few examples of Trump’s racism- his saying of a clash between neo Nazis and counter protesters that there were"Good people on both sides." The silence of Trump and Vance after a comedian called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage” at a Republican event. Trump’s message that “illegal immigrants” (not undocument aliens, or just immigrants, but “illegal immigrants” were coming her to sell drugs, commit crimes, rob us, rape our women, and take our jobs ( I noted that Trump actually said “black jobs” but I still do not know what he me.ant). My friend responded that these were “made up lies” and that I had been ‘misinformed, and read the wrong media, and needed to do my own research’. I told him that did not watch any cable news channel, subscribe to any magazines or newspapers or any streaming services.I just watched the local news. There I had seen the unedited clip of Trump saying “Good people on both sides.”. There I had seen the unedited clip of the comedian calling Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage”. There I had seen the unedited clip of Vance giving an entirely bullshit excuse ‘I have not watched the clip of the joke. So, I have no comment on it. But humor is sometimes offensive, and we should just get over it.’ (If Vance wanted to watch that clip, he could have spent 30 seconds to Google it. He could have asked an assistant to Google the clip and show it to hiim. He could have asked any one of the many reporters at the press conference to show him the clip!). I finished by saying that I got the rest from campaign ads- not Harris’ attack ads but ads supportng Trump. In fact these were ads supported by Trump himself. Each one ended with a still photo of Trump and a recording of his voice saying “I am Donald J Trump and I support this message.” He responded ‘Why do you care what a comedian said about Puerto Rico? You’re not Puerto Rican.’ He then told me that I shouldn’t care about any of the examples I gave as none of them applied to me. I first pointed out that I mentioned a rally by neo Nazis. neo Nazis tended to hate Jews, and I am a Jew. I also asked why I had to be a member of the group the prejudice was specifically directed at in order to be offended or object. He essentially said ‘I do not care about or object to prejudice directed at group I do not belong to. It does not bother or concern me.’ I was stunned for a second time. I pointed out that although he was not descended from Puerto Ricans, or anybody from Mexico or points south his last name was a Spanish word. Bigots would see or hear his last name, make assumptions, and target him. He did not seem to care.
At one point he said “When they round up the gays and the Jews, call me and I’ll come bail you out.” I responded that while I expected it to be a while before they rounded uo the Jews, based on DeSantos “Don’t Say Gay” law and similar measures passed in other states, I expected LGBTQ rights to be rolled back to the 1960’s almost immediately, He did not care.
Up until today, I had no reason, no indication whatsoever that my friend was anything buf a good, decent and caring man. Now, I learn he doesn’t care if others get slandered or hurt, so long as he is not the target. He dismisses my examples as “made up lies” based on nothing. He tells me that I 'watch the wrong media" without even knowing what media I watch. He tells me I ‘need to do my own research’ without asking where I got my information (It was from Trump campaign ads, officially endorsed by Trump!).
I admit, it was an error on my part assuming he voted Harris. But to find not only that he voted Trump, but dismisses all examples of Trump’s bigotry, and then says he does not care who Trump hates or hurts, so long as it isn’t him.
I am still in shock. This has not been a good week.
Trump’s insistence on tariffs will increase inflation and make things less affordable. There is no debate about that at all. The only debate is whether he actually implements his stated plans to cause inflation or if he was lying.
Nothing that Trump promised to do would help the economy at all, and Trump inherited a great economy from Obama that was a complete shitshow by the time he left office. The economy is much better today than it was after Trump left office.
Inflation is a thing, yes, but it will not go away, and the United States fared much better than a lot of other countries thanks to the economic efforts of the Biden administration.
But regardless, voting for Trump because of inflation is even more ignorant than ignoring his blatant racism and the open hatred expressed toward non-whites (particularly Hispanics/Latinos) by his people up until and just before the election.
There are people, faaaaar too many people, who think social media is enough of an information source and they have no idea what has really been happening and have no idea what is coming up soon.
Hopefully when things really go down the tubes, we’ll see a massive backlash in 2026, but I sure as hell am not going to try to predict anything.
Right? At this moment, all I understand is that I understand nothing.
I apologise for the wall of text format.
More Venting About Friends Who Voted Trump, Or Just Didn’t Vote
In response to my ‘It is The End Of American Democracy’ post I made on my own page on FB, one friend revealed himself as a Trump supporter. He described Trump as “a curmudgeon with a heart of gold”. I responded by citing numerous examples of Trump’s cruelty and hatred. I said I did not think had a heart of gold or any heart at all. The friend also said that Clinton, Bush jr and Obama did “evil, evil things”. I quoted that and asked for him to list these things. I said I remember things I disagreed with and misguided decisions but not “evil, evil things”, He has not responded yet.
I found out another friend, who initially wanted to vote RFK, was leaning Trump. I commented repeatedly, at length, and in great detail on his political posts. I did eventuall convince him not to vote for Trump. However, he really really did not want to vote Harris. He called her “unworthy” " a teleprompt reader in a skirt" and “the lesser of two evils”. I kept asking him to tell me why he felt this way and what his specific objections to Harris were. His wife posted that Harris had made a speech about Israel in one town, then a conflicting speech in another town. I asked her to provide a clip or a quote from a reputable source. I’ve known her for years. She is generally quiet and polite. She told me to just Google it. I responded that she hadn’t provided enough terms to search on. She said ’ I am not doing your homework.'. I asked for a cite again. She was finally reasonable. She did not provide the cite. But, she did explain that usually in internet debates when somebody asks for a cite and you provide one, they don’t bother to read it or just dismiss it. I said that was often true when debating internet strangers. But, she had known me for decades. What was more likely- I don’t bother to read the cite, I dismiss the cite out of hand, or I read the cite and attempt to argue against it using quotes from her cites and by providing counter cites of my own. She never responded. I did eventually find out why my friend refused to vote Harris. He said ‘She had four years to fix the border and never got the job done.’ He also said she was anti Israel. I responded by describing the very little power given to the VP by the Constitution. I also pointed out that Biden had never given Harris the assignment of fixing our southern border. He had given her the assignment of visiting some countries in Latin America to see why so many of their citizens were leaving for the USA. She was also given the job of helping the governments in those countries to improve the general situation so that people were happy and would not want to leave. She accomplished both jobs. I asked why he said Harris was anti Israel. As you might expect by now, I never got a response. He went on to make several posts continuing to describe Trump and Harris as equally evil, incompetent, and undeserving to be President. He repeatedly declared that by not voting he was free from responsibility, guilt and blame for whatever Trump did if elected. I tried to convince him otherwise. He remained unconvinced that by not voting for the one candidate who could reasonably stop the evil that is Trump, by choosing not to act he was allowing Trump’s evil. He never did vote. I thought that was rather evil of him. But that was before I found out two friends were Trumpists.
I don’t think reasoned discourse is going to reach anyone who has lived through the last 12 years and STILL voted Trump. Their beliefs are unquenchable.
It’s reasonable to grieve and mourn the loss of people who had good qualities but nevertheless chose Trump. It’s not reasonable to try to teach or save them, especially not in the short term.
You make a very good point, and I should probably quit trying. But I cannot stop hoping that they are not evil, but simply misguided people who can be made to see the truth.
I did engage with another Trumpist in comments on a friends post. I countered her arguments. I asked for details (some of her claims were quite vague), and asked for cites. She responded by making more comments with vague claims without proof of any kind to back them up. She also left a laughing emoji on my comment. I kept countering her comment, and asking for details and proof. She kept making more comments and leaving laughing emojis on my comments. At one point I made a comment asking whether if I once again responded to her with her counter points and cites, would she actually bother to answer me in any way of just leave another laughing emoji. She responded by leaving another laughing emoji. I kept after her asking for details and cites. She told me to do my own homework and just use Duck Duck Go. I said she hadn’t bothered to give any terms to search on. Eventually, she did repsond with a cite of sorts. She said “Trump rules and Kamala drools! Watch this clip! Now that’s leadership!” and linked to a youtube video. I clcked the link to watch the video. It was an hour and five minutes long. I mentioned the length of the video and asked if she could tell me just from what time to what time in the video I was supposed to watch, and which one of her many claim the video was supposed to prove, She called me lazy. I repeated that the video was over an hour long and she never told which one of her many claims it was suppsoed to prove She said she had made her point. I responded “No, you have not made your point. You have made many vague claims and not provided proof of any kind to back them up.”
I did not expect I could ever reach her. But I could not give up. This was partly because evil must be fought and lies countered with truth. It was also partly because ‘some one is wrong on the internet!’ just like in that XKCD classic.
But what will you do when you realize they are not evil, but simply misguided people who refuse to see the truth?
My mom walks every morning (weather permitting), and greets the people she encounters. She’s gotten to know quite a few of them! Depending on the weather, her ‘workout clothes’ might include a Life is Good t-shirt (“Reading seriously damages your ignorance!”), or an LGBT+ Ally shirt. During the last school break, she started encountering two young boys who were exceptionally rude, never acknowledging her usual “Good morning!,” and on a few occasions nearly forcing her off the sidewalk.
This behavior was explained when she met their father, who was sporting assorted MAGA gear. 
A Mini Rant Unrelated To Politics
I work in a virtual call center, helping callers apply for medicaid and food stamps. Sometimes, we get callers who do not speak English. I explain as best I can to them that I will put them on hold and get a translator. It can take a few minutes to call the translator service and get a translator who speaks the language you need. The rest of the call takes much longer than usual because everything I say needs to be repeated by the translator, and everything the caller says needs to be repeated to me by the translator. At four thirty or so, I got a caller who requested a Spanish translator. I did not get off that call until seven fifty. .
I honestly don’t know.
This is not a rhetorical device- I genuinely do not understand how so many people cannot see Trump’s evil.