# Why are all my customers who bring up politics from the same demographic group? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 8, 2022, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492 "2022-04-08T00:00:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/41 "2022-04-09T20:10:46Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > Yeah. Old, white, Christian men have been kept is a state of constant outrage by a steady diet of Fox news and AM radio. That comment seems kinda sexist, ageist and bigoted. I am Old, kinda white (mixed), male, and Christian (but doubting) and I despise Fox etc. I have quite a few buddies my age who are white and males who again, are more NPR than CTR. Note our current President, also. šŸ˜› You can be very liberal and be Christian, and very conservative and be Jewish or Muslim (The Taliban e.g.). Thomas is often considered the most conservative Justice. While no doubt a picture of a MAGA rally would be very white, and likely Christian, the distaff side is well represented among that crowd. See M.T. Greene. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2022, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/42 "2022-04-09T21:32:50Z")
For balance, I will mention that for most of the Trump administration I was living in NYC and working with lots of architects and interior designers. Many times, a client would come into our place of business and _immediately_ start in with ā€œCan you believe what that orange asshole did today?ā€ or something similar. And I will admit to _really_ enjoying those conversations. So Iā€™m not sure itā€™s all about white conservative outrage. Some, but not all. I think the outrage factor gets cranked to high when your political party is out of power. I think thatā€™s largely why midterms are traditionally so bad for the party holding power. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/43 "2022-04-10T01:31:59Z")
I donā€™t know, but Iā€™ll bet it does back 10 years or more. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/44 "2022-04-10T02:35:51Z")
As an old white man, if I ever wore a t-shirt with a slogan, Iā€™d like it to be: WEā€™RE NOT ALL LIKE THAT. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/45 "2022-04-10T02:36:35Z")
Same here! ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/46 "2022-04-10T03:20:38Z")
Does it really matter? It likely didnā€™t to them since they were willing to blame whoever was in office _now_ - it seems more likely the person starting the conversation didnā€™t care & had an objective of commiserating with someone like-minded or evangelizing their dislike to someone who didnā€™t know the details. If youā€™re curious, the [Phoenix City Code](https://phoenix.municipal.codes/CC/39-10) has a feature allowing you to look up the history of a particular section, I was curious, so I looked it up. But I think the actual results are _completely irrelevant_ to the people mentioned in the OP, this was not a conversation about empiricism, or even one that could be influenced by empiricism. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/47 "2022-04-10T05:13:05Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > I donā€™t know, but Iā€™ll bet it does back 10 years or more. The law was passed in [1995](https://www.myazbar.org/AZAttorney/Archives/Jan97/jan97_sorensen.PDF). The mayor was [Skip Rimsza (R)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skip_Rimsza). ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/48 "2022-04-10T05:34:51Z")
I have worked in a grocery/pharmacy, fast food, department store, and two bookstores. I donā€™t call any customer bringing up politics of any kind during a transaction. This was in the '80s; maybe things are different now. šŸ¤·ā€ā™‚ļø ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/49 "2022-04-10T08:34:19Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > That comment seems kinda sexist, ageist and bigoted. I am Old, kinda white (mixed), male, and Christian (but doubting) and I despise Fox etc. I have quite a few buddies my age who are white and males who again, are more NPR than CTR. Note our current President, also. šŸ˜› Itā€™s not that all the old, White, Christian men have been drinking from the Fox water-cooler, itā€™s that those who _do_ drink the Fox-koolaid are overwhelmingly from that demographic. I do know some Black conservatives/Republications/Trump supporters, but they arenā€™t nearly as in-your-face youā€™re-either-with-us-or-the-enemy as the Old White Farts. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/50 "2022-04-10T09:24:00Z")
nmā€¦ . ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/51 "2022-04-10T09:31:59Z")
Wow. I wish I knew that when the customer complained about it. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/52 "2022-04-10T12:32:17Z")
The funny/sad thing is that you could easily spin it as ā€œyou know, our good republican government had to lock up the spraypaint to keep _those people_ from causing troubleā€ and heā€™d probably suddenly be on your side and think that makes sense. Thatā€™s probably more in line with his normal thinking. But theyā€™ve become so emotionally immature that anything that inconveniences them becomes an opportunity to tee off on some conspiracy-laden rant about the evil liberals, so it doesnā€™t actually need to make sense. If thereā€™s something they donā€™t like, a liberal must be the reason, even if that thing is more likely caused by conservatives. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/53 "2022-04-10T12:46:51Z")
Thereā€™s a theory that itā€™s due to audio fidelity. FM is capable of it better than AM, so music was played on the former and news on the latter. The market and American culture determined that new music and its younger audiences would rotate in new listeners while alienating older. Save for an oldies station on FM, the aging listeners migrated to AM, where the rescinded fairness doctrine meant news was actually opinion on offer, and since only wealthy people can own or advertise on radio stations, the opinions were their choice. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/54 "2022-04-10T12:52:00Z")
Yes they are. Amazing you havenā€™t noticed. I had maybe two or three political conversations at work from 1990 to 2020. Not per week or per month. Total over 30 years. Iā€™ve had more than that per month over the last two and a half years. Almost exclusively right wingers bringing up shit out of the blue. And then claiming that ā€œthe company started itā€ by having ā€œwokeā€ corporate messages about Black History Month, Asian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Pride Month, International Womenā€™s Day, whatever. We had to discipline several employees for going on LinkedIn and responding with derision and bigotry to our corporate messages. Most recently we had a manager go off on an internal group chat about how stupid our company policies are against age discrimination! A thirty something manager who openly declared that he wasnā€™t going to consider any applicant over 40, and then got ā€œcounseledā€ for it by HR. We have managed to discuss the impact of high gas prices, interest rates and Union ā€œintransigenceā€ for twenty years without once mentioning a political party or politician. Now Biden or the democrats get brought up in every financial discussion. Yes times have changed. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/55 "2022-04-10T12:54:00Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > But hereā€™s whatā€™s odd. Every one of them has been white, male, conservative, and over 50. No exceptions so far. Iā€™m also white, male, and over 50. Do they assume Iā€™m going to agree with them because of that? Or do they bring up politics everywhere? If so, why just the white, male conservatives? 1. These individuals are somewhat insecure and like to establish higher status by airing their grievances (itā€™s been suggested that this category of ā€œconspicuous outrageā€ should be considered alongside Veblenā€™s other dimensions of [conspicuous economics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class#Conspicuous_economics)) 2. These individuals arenā€™t subject to being threatened, assaulted, or harassed for expressing controversial opinions. Thus theyā€™re accustomed to speaking their minds freely with no pushback. 3. Because they usually encounter no pushback, these individuals believe that most people share (or should share) their opinions. And this is what the furor over ā€œcancel cultureā€ is all about. A certain demographic is, for the first time, learning what itā€™s like to experience the same consequences as everyone else. Being treated like everyone else is an outrage to them, so it must be treated as a crisis. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/56 "2022-04-10T13:11:36Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > I have worked in a grocery/pharmacy, fast food, department store, and two bookstores. I donā€™t call any customer bringing up politics of any kind during a transaction. This was in the '80s; maybe things are different now. 2 things to note. 1. The 80ā€™s were 30-40 years ago. It would be surprising if things _werenā€™t_ different. 2. The suggestion isnā€™t that this happens a lot, just that itā€™s usually the same guy when it does happen. I can say that in my last 3 office jobs, there was always one white guy who would monopolize the conversation to talk about his politics, which were always conservative. Small percentage, but that _one guy_ really pollutes the environment. I disagree with the politics, but what was most offensive was his assumption that everybody else wanted to hear his bullshit all day long. One quickly learned that if you want him to shut up, you donā€™t push back, you just let him rant until he gets bored of it. Some of these people seem like chatty extraverts who listen to talk radio all day. They think theyā€™re being social, they donā€™t care what anyone else thinks, and they have no topic of conversation other than what they hear on the crazy waves. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/57 "2022-04-10T13:19:12Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Americaā€™s conservative movement is a white supremacist movement. Its adherents live in a perpetual state of aggrievement against non-whites. Racists always assume everyone else is racist, but too scared to speak up. Iā€™m sorry, but I need to point out the obvious fallacy that itā€™s a pretty big leap from ā€œannoyed about spray can policyā€ to ā€œraging white supremacistā€. He might simply not like Democratā€™s policies because a lot of them are stupid. And the reason ā€œevery one of them has been white, male, conservative, and over 50ā€ is because the OP works in a manly hardware store in a city where over 70% of the population is white and 25% are over 45. IOW ā€œconfirmation biasā€. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/58 "2022-04-10T13:28:29Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > IOW ā€œconfirmation biasā€. Nitpick (befitting only of the SDMB): Iā€™d call it selection/sampling bias: > **[Selection bias](https://catalogofbias.org/biases/selection-bias/)** > > Selection bias occurs where the sampling method for an RCT does not produce truly random allocation between the treatments being compared. To the OP: I used to be a pretty active woodworker, but stopped participating on online woodworking forums, many of which were _dominated_ by that same demographic who ā€“ always assuming the entire world thought just as they did ā€“ were remarkably out, loud, and proud with their Cro-Magnon beliefs šŸ˜‰ But, yeah: similar selection/sampling bias issue. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/59 "2022-04-10T13:30:46Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > (itā€™s been suggested that this category of ā€œconspicuous outrageā€ should be considered alongside Veblenā€™s other dimensions of [conspicuous economics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_the_Leisure_Class#Conspicuous_economics)) Off-topic: Alison Lurie already coined ā€œconspicuous outrageā€ in 1981 in _The Language of Clothes._ While Veblenā€™s conspicuous consumer would arrive at the gala in more expensive clothes than you could afford, the conspicuous outrager would show up in frayed jeans; because you canā€™t afford to flout convention but he can. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2022, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492/60 "2022-04-10T13:43:49Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > The law was passed in [1995](https://www.myazbar.org/AZAttorney/Archives/Jan97/jan97_sorensen.PDF). The mayor was [Skip Rimsza (R)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skip_Rimsza). Thank you. > [@wevets](#): > > Does it really matter? Yes it does. People like the paint buyer donā€™t want to blame whoā€™s in office now. They want to blame democrats. Facts matter. Not everyone will listen, but the next person that complains about Democrats locking up their paint might, when theyā€™re told the law is almost 30 years old and was passed under a Republican. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-my-customers-who-bring-up-politics-from-the-same-demographic-group/962492.md?page=4)