Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Hillary Is A Killer!

I went up to Ptown for the Thanksgiving week.  I had a nice, relaxing, week, but with the wind it was brutally cold.  But I survived. The wind and the cold reminded me that last year my electrical bill in the winter was insane.  And I wasn't even there.  Per my condo rules, I have to keep the thermostat at 55 degrees so that the pipes don't freeze.  And I guess doing that cost me a lot of money last year.

So this year I thought I would take some time to winterize my condo.  Put weatherstrips down, some caulk around the window, etc.  I'm lucky that there is a hardware store just around the corner so when I forget stuff (which I always do) I can just walk back over.

On my second trip to pick up weather strips, I was in line behind a guy who was asking about  bumper stickers:

"I"m looking for a bumper sticker."  - Random Guy.
"They are all over there," says the Guy Behind The Counter.
"I"m looking for a specific one." - RG
"They are all over there.  That's what we have." - GBTC

"I'm looking for one that says 2016 Election = Disaster." - RG

And then it happens:

"Well that's all we have.  And I'm not sure I agree it was a disaster.  I'm glad Trump won.  Hillary is a killer.  I don't want a killer to be President and Hillary is a killer."

Now I had stood in line minding my own business and was kind of amused about the bumper sticker conversation until we got to the "Hillary is a killer" line.

So Ptown is blue.  Like not even Navy blue.  Try deep indigo blue.  But I'm sure there are Trump supporters there, but the whole "Hillary is a Killer" thing threw me for a loop.

Look, I know there's an argument to be made that she was somehow responsible for the deaths in Bengazi.  But there have been something like 8 official investigations and they all prove she didn't do anything wrong.  And even if she did, I really don't think you can call her a killer.   But this guy was.  Repeatedly.

I stood there and didn't say a word.  The check outline is the wrong place to have any type of real conversation.  And how do you talk with someone who is convinced that Hillary is a killer?   What facts or basic elements of reason could I use at this point that he would listen to and actually consider?  What could I say to change his mind?

So I just stood there until it was my turn, I paid for my purchase and left.  Feeling more than a little bewildered and definitely very sad.    

Monday, November 07, 2016

Why You Should Attend A Gay Wedding Now!

While you still can.

And no this isn't a political post.

I've been honored to attend two gay weddings this year.  And they were both fabulous.  I mean, that goes without saying, right?  But more than that, they both touched me deeply.

Yes I'm a sucker for weddings and tend to get emotional.  Shocker I know.

But witnessing two people profess their love for each other in front of their family, friends and community is a wonderful thing, right?  In both instances the couples had been together a long time.  One couple had been together for seventeen years!  When they first met, gay marriage wasn't even a thing.  Much less legal in all 50 states.  They had loved each other, in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, and now after all of these years they finally had the ability to get married!  It was really wonderful and powerful to see and to be a part of.

Soon gay weddings will sort of disappear and there will just be "weddings".  Oh, Tom and Joe met playing flag football three years ago, they got engaged last year, and now they are getting married.  Boy meets boy (or girl meets girl!), they start dating, they fall in love, they get married.  It's just the way things are.  Routine.  Normal.

And that's a great thing where young gay couples just assume they can get married.  Like it's no big deal.  That's such great progress.

But will their weddings have that sense of victory, of justice, of love succeeding against so many odds?

I'm not sure.

So if you get invited to a gay wedding.

Go!