Originally posted by: Mark
It was a good conversation because I didn't react negatively. I suspect she was not a social media user so her brain hadn't rotted unlike so many of those MAGAs that are conspiracy kooks. She told me she thinks Texas is turning blue and will be blue in ten years. She thought Harris had a 20% chance of winning Texas.
In real life, I like to engage people and be polite. I like it when someone with different views and experiences tells me their story. It is amazing what happens when you are willing to listen. I made a choice at the end of the pandemic to be more outgoing and friendly towards people in everyday life. It has worked out. For example, the employees at every convenience store in town give me free food and fountain sodas. I have received two free room upgrades and had resort fees waived by simply being nice and polite. When people ahead of me in line complain about the lines or whatever else is going on, I smile and say, I am sorry you are having a bad day. Forget the $20 trick just be nice and polite.
And the amazing thing is I feel so much better. It really is nice to be nice.
I suppose that in 1930s Germany, many non-Nazis found that their Nazi neighbors were pleasant, engaging, polite, and interesting. That's because they never saw them happily bayoneting Jews or laughing as they were beaten senseless in the street.
Likewise, I'm acquainted with many MAGAs. They're usually pleasant folks--at least until the conversation lurches toward politics. Then they start spouting the dogma and lying through their teeth. The transition is often shocking and abrupt. I'm forced to conclude that Trumpism is a mental disease, which is actually more charitable than concluding that these Trumpers were normal people who deliberately chose to go wackadoodle.
Certainly, one should always be polite, even towards people we despise. And I am, unless and until they try to get me to drink the Kool-aid. Or unless they're spreading their poison, which is harming the country I love.
I think that being "nice" has cost Democrats elections, most famously in 2016. When the other side is spewing hatred and insults, smiling blandly doesn't do it. A certain percentage of the electorate thinks that makes you look weak and the other guy look strong. If during their debate, Hillary had told Trump to "Get the f*** back to your own podium," she would have won in a landslide.
