There's been a lot of what-I said-to-the-wingnut diaries lately so I guess I'll just weigh in with one, too. This is not a serious, insightful, deep diary. This diary is about how good it feels to fight back.
I live in a mostly blue collar and poor area with enclaves of upper middle class retirees. It's a semirural area of substancial view properties and shabby double wides. Most of the voters are Republicans, either the rich type or the Sarah Palin type. The local Democrats are mostly old hippies who went back to the land back in the day or middle class retirees like me who bought property decades ago before the prices went up.
So my Obama bumper sticker makes me a target. I get harassed regularly. But I can be fiesty at times! Plus I'm an old lady which means that I can get away with stuff that would get younger people in trouble.
Someone keyed my car while it was parked at Walmart. Yes, I shop there--it's the only place in thirty miles where socks and bras can be purchased.
Well, I had to let that pass since I don't know who did it.
As I was driving north on a four lane stretch of highway a pickup pulled along side me and the passanger rolled down his window, shook his fist and yelled something. Then they accelerated ahead.
Well, bullshit to that. I hit the gas, rolled down my window, shot up next to them and stuck my whole left arm out with my finger extended so far I gave myself a cramp. They were shocked. Old lady in a Hyundai flips off two guys? Wingnuts can dish it out, but it shocks the shit out of them to get it back. Anyway there was an exit right there, not my exit, but fortuitous nethertheless. While the two wingnuts were working on their heart attacks, I just tipped the wheel and slid down the ramp, leaving them alone up on the highway.
God, it feels good to fight back
On another occasion I pushed my shopping cart up to my car which was parked at the Fred Meyer. A youngish man was loading groceries into his trunk next to my car. He was staring at me so I glanced back, which gave him his opening: "You know Obama is a terrorist, right?"
I turned, looked him in the eye and said, "No, I don't know that and neither do you. Your job as a citizen is to be well informed from credible sources. If you allow yourself to believe stuff like that then you have failed. You are not a good citizen."
He was speechless. I started flinging grocery bags into my trunk. He said, "Well, that's what you think but you juat don't know the stuff you should know, etc. etc." and I turned to him, interrupted him and said, "You started this conversation. Don't dish it out if you can't take it."
I slammed my trunk and drove away.
No more Miss Nice Gal!
There is a clubhouse for my village. In the clubhouse is a book exchange: neighbors can drop off and/or pick up books with no checking out. I routinely pick up rightwing hate books--and carry them right out to the dumpster. Nothing in the rules says you have to read the books you pick up!
I threw a fit with the manager of the local bookstare and got her to take all the rightwing nut books our of her display window. I just pointed out the since many of her shoppers are liberals she shouldn't insult us with Ann Coulter in the window. She still carries rightwing nut books, but they are no longer featured except sometimes on the shelves.
Which reminds me of another story. This one is from early December and concerns Christmas shopping. I was browsing at the bookstore and I noticed an elderly man ogling Ann Coulter's latest book which was on the shelf but set flat so that the cover picture was visible. A few books down on the shelf was that Ann Coulter parody book. I can't remember the title of it, but the jacket had a picture of Coulter in one of her psuedo-sexy poses and it looked a great deal like her most recent real book. Anyway the wife said, "You interested in that book?" (The real Coulter book) and the man mumbled something. Then they drifted away.
I quickly scuttled over, set the Coulter parody on top of the real Coulter book, and scuttled back to the history section. It worked! She did it! The wife came back and picked up the parody to give her husband for Christmas!
Well, that was fun.
In fairness to some McCain supporters I have to say that I volunteer at a no kill dog shelter and the manager and many of the other volunteers are McCain/Palin supporers ,but we all get along just fine. The parking lot is about 50/50 Obama and McCain, but we are all there for the dogs. Too bad so many rightwingers can't quit their habit of bullying and be team players for a better America.
Anyone out there on this beautiful Monday have stories about assertiveness and self-empowerment to share?