So my husband and I decided on a whim to "join" a Trump sign waving party in a ruby red county. [View all]

[Pacifist Patriot]

Central Florida
Friday, October 18
6:00 - 6:30 p.m.

For context, there is a highly traveled intersection near me with a CVS on one corner that provides ideal out-parcel space to conduct a sign waving event. MAGAts have used it over the last eight years, even when there isn't an election going on! I hadn't seen the Trump nutters out there for awhile, but they started showing up again routinely on Friday evenings the last few weeks. Demonstrably smaller crowds of late, but as enthusiastic. Every Friday around 4:00, my husband and I go visit my parents for a bit and have to pass this way to return home.

Unbeknownst to my long-suffering husband, I wore my Kam47a t-shirt for this very reason and tucked a Harris/Walz sign in the trunk of the car. As we approached the intersection I saw they were out yet again and asked if he minded dropping me off for half an hour so I could stand respectfully off to one end and hold up the Harris/Walz sign. He shocked me by not only agreeing, but staying with me holding up a "Florida is in Play" sign we happened to have in the trunk from an event we attended about six weeks ago. Folks, I cannot tell you how jaw dropping this was for me. He has 100% supported my political activity over the years, but never actively participated.

We had so much fun!

For one thing, we estimate that about 50% of the cars driving by reacted in our favor. Some of the folks driving by seemed ecstatic when they saw us. We noted a few things. Positive reactions heavily skewed younger, female (usually with a kid or two in the car), and/or people of color. But plenty of elderly couples expressed support too. The most obnoxious nay sayers were overwhelmingly elderly women. Or maybe that was their arthritis rendering them unable to bend their middle finger. Who knows, I digress.

We did keep our distance positioned after their final "Trump/Vance" yard sign, but sure enough several of their folks wandered down. We "interacted" with four of them. Here's how it went.

Two middle-aged men approached us. One was the nutter type who displayed obsession with immigrants and gender issues. We largely ignored him. Even when he snidely said something that indicated he knew who was on top when we had sex. Clearly his incel status makes him unable to imagine there are way more positions if you know what you're doing. Anyway, I digress again.

The other guy ended up engaging with me in a somewhat rational conversation. When ranting guy finally wandered off, I said, "Hey you mentioned you have daughters. How do you feel about their reproductive rights being taken away?" He said something about exceptions for rape and incest. I responded, "Oh no. In many states that is most definitely not the case. Take a look at what is happening in Texas. Women are dying" He asked me what my position was on post-birth abortion. I calmly responded. "That is infanticide, is illegal in every jurisdiction in the country, and no democrat on the planet would support making that legal." I asked if he knew that at six weeks, over 95% of women don't even know they are pregnant yet so we could be sentencing women with high risk pregnancies to death." His face turned white and he changed the subject to the media failing us. I said I absolutely agreed and left it at that. I thanked him for being an American who loves their country just like I do and for respecting my right to advocate for my candidate. He put out his hand and said, "I'm going to look up what you said about abortion." (in a way that indicated he was fact-checking me, but not snidely) I responded, "please do" and shook it.

Another guy came over who looked like he had been sent our way by ranting guy. Ended up having a conversation with him that was 100% devoid of any politics. You would have thought we were at a cocktail party, that kind of small talk. He was new to the area, recently retired from the Air Force, so my husband and I immediately engaged him with "where were you before, what drew you to the area, determined our kids had gone to the high school his kids were in now, etc." We told him it was a great area to raise kids, wished him well, he shook our hands, and quietly went back to his crowd.

We then had to ignore an unhinged anti-choice bitch who came over clutching a Vote No on 4 sign who shouted at us, called us losers, and made assumptions that we must have no children. We have three. We both knew better than to engage with her. That unspoken communication loser husbands and wives have after 30 years, you know.

After half an hour, the traffic was dying down, the wind was picking up, we were getting hungry, and frankly, my arms were tired from holding up a sign and waving at motorists. So these two fifty-something Enemies Within headed back to our car. Which by the way, is not a beaten up old pickup truck festooned with Harris is The Second Coming stickers and Walz has Ballz flags. As we were leaving, rational guy came over one more time, and said, "for democracy" and gave us each a fist bump. What the fuck is he doing with the nutters?

I don't know if he'll actually do the research much less learn anything important in the process, but I learned/confirmed a few important things last night:

1. Publicly advocating for democrats will not get you killed around here, despite my neighbors and family's concerns.
2. There were way more motorists excited to see us and expressing support than I anticipated.
3. Some Trump supporters are indeed so brainwashed and/or mentally ill that you really should not engage with them. Ever.
4. There are some folks in that bubble who might be able to be rescued. Even if you don't know the outcome, it is worth the effort. At the very least, I hope the two we engaged with now see that we are normal people and not an enemy.

Thanks for making it this far. I know I was long-winded.

Eighteen days!!!