We have all been there, right? Someone we have known forever, loved forever, looked forward to seeing, goes down the worm hole and becomes lost to us. But not without a parting salvo.
There is a business in my community that I have loved and supported for 17 years or more. It's family-owned and run by a mom, pop, and son. It stocks items I would much rather buy in person than from an online source.
Now, these owners. I'm not going to say they weren't eccentric (or Republicans) before they tripped and fell into the Fox News wormhole. I knew that small business owners frequently vote Republican because of tax issues. But 10 years ago, these people would not have displayed the xenophobic, racist anxieties that they are displaying today.
I didn't even have to go to the store to discover the sea change. Today I was reading on my porch when the mom of the business called me. I have her in my phone as "Mom."
She wanted me to be her co-author, and she sketched an idea that she thought would make a great t.v. series. It was so loathsome that I have no doubt it would be a fantastic hit with the people out there who refuse to be vaccinated because "freedom."
When I asked her where she got her idea for the series, she said, "The news." Note that she knows me well enough that she didn't say the "F" word. But I already knew the answer before I posed the question.
A fellow customer just told me that this business now has Fox News running in the back room all day every day. This would do wonders for the store if it wasn't located smack dab in the bleeding heart of Liberal Land. As it is, I don't think many customers will agree with the sentiments.
I counted this family as best friends and visited their emporium frequently, up until four years ago, when my visits fell off sharply. Now the visits will end. I would rather not see them at all than see them parroting the Fox News hard-liners. This makes me very, very sad.
But OH WELL. Tomorrow, while the business celebrates its 40th anniversary with a lawn party, I will be 30 miles away, doing a LARP with people I don't even know!
Shedding a shell, growing a new one, knowing that a lot of good will be left behind.
5 comments:
On a related note, I went into a bookstore I hadn't been in in a few years and the owner was going on about how she went from being a liberal to a Trump supporter, but she's not racist!
Oy. Never going in there again.
I have said before that not all Thing 45 supporters are racist but all racists are Thing 45 supporters.
On a related note, my brother now drinks the Kool-Aid about masks and COVID being lies just to "chip" us.
Oy.
Yes and it's a little worse when it's two of your children ziplining down that rabbit hole. Sigh.
I lost a niece and great niece, many assorted cousins, couple of uncles, friends and best friend of over 40 years...not just from fox news but from being brain washed by trump. Makes me sad. But nothing I regret.
Boundaries are healthy. I'm relearning that all the damned time.
Post a Comment