Studly Doright and I drove southwest to Panama City yesterday afternoon to pick up my new-to-me Yamaha Majesty. The nearer we came to our destination, the more prevalent were the signs supporting the re-election of Donald Trump.
Neither of us was surprised. This part of Florida is notoriously ultra conservative, and any Liberal voters are reluctant to advertise their support for a Democrat lest there be nasty consequences.
As Studly and the seller loaded the bike onto the trailer I visited with an older couple out walking their dogs. The woman was a talker.
“We moved here from Asheville, North Carolina,” she told me at one point.
“Oh, I love Asheville!” I said.
“Oh, you wouldn’t now!” She replied. “It’s all hippies and liberals.”
I smiled and winked. “I adore hippies and liberals. In fact, I’m a liberal myself.”
Now, this little woman who’d been amazed that her yappy little dog had taken a liking to me suddenly closed up like a clam. One would have thought I’d grown horns and a tail.
Fortunately Studly had the bike loaded by then and we made our escape. I had images of villagers chasing me with pitchforks and torches. Fun times.
I can’t imagine how wild it’s going to get between now and November. Those pitchforks I worried about might become reality.
Peace, people!
Praying for Eyebrowz 
I am certain that there are no Americans who discuss the state of Australian politics but there are large numbers of Australians who “know” a whole lot about American politics. In fact the teenagers I teach are more likely to be able to tell you who the two presidential candidates are before they can tell you who the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition are in Australia.
Go figure.
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Wow. We Americans tend to believe that it’s just us in the world. Most could not say who was the head of government in another country, nor do they care to know. It’s sad. And I hope we do better in the future. Please tell the teens you teach that we aren’t all Neanderthals over here.
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I will try but hard to convince them as the conspiracy theory they are all talking about at the moment is the one about Australia not existing and all the people claiming to be Australian being paid actors!!
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Whoa! That’s a doozy!
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Sounds really crazy. Fun times indeed…
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It was kind of like I’d entered the Twilight Zone.
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it is hellish what the world has become.
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That little woman thought because I was an older white woman that I had the same narrow-minded beliefs she did. Crazy.
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People are just awful to one another these days. And if YOU don’t believe in what they do, YOU are all the bad ones. I never saw such devisiveness in my life
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It’s so sad. She might’ve been 70–just a sweet little old lady until I told her I was a liberal.
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The she obvi became the bitch from hell xxxxxxxxx
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Monstrous
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I agree.
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When I walk around this town I pass through very clearly messaged enclaves of Trump supporters and very strong Republicans all around. There are many more who are not so open. I often wonder how I, a distinct feminist, atheist liberal ended up in the reality of a heavily conservative town where churches sit on every block, science be damned, and MAGA screams loudly and boldly.
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It’s kind of daunting. Tallahassee has some surprisingly liberal views; although, it’s still a pretty conservative town. We don’t generally see the gigantic Trump signs that I saw yesterday all over Panama City, though.
And I grew up in what is now deep red Texas. I wonder if my thinking would align with that mindset if we hadn’t had the opportunities to move to different parts of the country over the past thirty years or so. I’d hate to think I might’ve been one of those mindless trump supporters
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Hippies …ha!……and Liberals , as if there is just one strain …..did you tell her you were an immigrant Jew also ? Way to upset her applel cart ,,,,,she is having her dog checked as we speak….
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I could just imagine the bath the dog received after being petted by a (gasp!) liberal.
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I love that you told her and her reaction!
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She made a huge assumption that I felt as she did. I loved shocking her a bit.
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The other day, we spotted a MASSIVE Trump 2020 flag hanging in a neighbor’s garage. We live in a very mixed area, but probably still more conservative than not. Our neighbor on one side, I’m convinced that the husband and the wife have diametrically opposed political views and I wonder how in the world they are both still living and sane. Then again, we call them the crazy neighbors for a reason.
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I couldn’t imagine sharing my home with a Trump supporter!
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It is hard enough to deal with it from my FIL and my SIL. Because of his health and everything else, I haven’t seen either of them since February. I’m a little relieved by the fact that my Hubby is the only one that has to sit through listening to what comes out of his mouth only to be parroted by my SIL. I’d have a seriously hard time keeping my mouth shut.
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My husband doesn’t talk politics at all, but recently he’s been all WTH! when it comes to trump.
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I’m so curious, is your partner actually named studley?!
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😊 No, but when I started the blog it became evident that I’d need to write about him sometimes, and he’s an extremely private person—no social media presence at all. So I created a nickname for him and “Studly Doright” just popped into my head. He is studly and he always tries to do the right thing, so it fit.
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Hahah that’s adorable
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He’s a pretty cool guy. MOST of the time!
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