How I got myself in trouble most recently

[kellinator]

So, I made a long rambling phone post yesterday, and rather than attempting to transcribe it, I'm going to attempt to write it out a little more clearly.

Or more than likely I'll get pissed again halfway through the writing and I'll just half-assedly throw it on the page to get it out of my system...

Yesterday afternoon I was getting back in my car after picking up some gaming treats to take to Athens and I saw two women getting out of a car. I had to squint to read the bumper sticker, it was all so shoved together:

10 out of 10 terrorists agree... Anybody But Bush

I started to just roll my eyes, get back in my car and play some loud music, but I figured they'd seen me, with my Kerry/Edwards bumper sticker, gawking at the car already, and, well, it's one thing to run my mouth on LiveJournal where I know that a lot of people agree with me, but have I really tried to make a real difference?

So I approached the car, and as politely as I could, I said, "Excuse me, ma'am, but if you're so certain that the terrorists don't want Bush, why is it that our one big terrorist attack came while he was in office?"

One woman looked like she might have been ready to at least offer some reasoning, but the other one, who was obviously in charge, snarled "Oh please!!" and stomped off. The other woman, who was mumbling something along the lines of "I don't really like him but..." looked at me semi-apologetically as I turned and yelled over my shoulder "A mind is a terrible thing to open!"

I then got in the car and left scarcrest a voicemail of which he later said, "I understood my name and that was about it."

...Was it the right thing to do? I don't know. All I know is that I felt that I had to say something, to at least attempt to start a dialogue. It's all very well to post links and rants here, but I don't think I'm making anyone think.

...At the same time, I seriously doubt I made them think, and I definitely raised my blood pressure, which is something I've been trying not to do during this election.

I don't know if there really can be open dialogue at this point anymore. We're too divided. And I include myself in that group. Certain things are like waving a red flag in front of me these days. I honestly don't understand how anyone could vote for Bush. And I suppose that makes me part of the problem.

Comments

[winterbadger]

I think I might have opened it up a bit more slowly, but you could also have been much more confrontational about it. I'm just not sure that people who already have seriously factional bumper stickers on their cars are the people to really talk to. I don't think they're terribly likely to be willing to examine other positions; either through careful thought and examination or through knee-jerk reaction, they;ve already staked themselves to a public statement of their beliefs, pershaps (depending on the sticker) a pretty extreme one.

If one wants to get a productive dialog going, I'd think there might be more benefit to volunteering with a political party (whichever one one prefers) or with civic and grassroots organizations that help sponsor and organize debates or town hall meetings. Stop someone to speak to them about their bumper sticker and, no matter how nicely you do it, they're probably going to be defensive. Or want to proselytize you to their POV.