Today I stopped by one of my local health and nutrition stores that I used to frequent a lot, but have not visited in a long time. The owner is one who seems to know lots about what's going on in our town. Her shop is like a barber shop. People go in there and trade in gossip a bunch, which sometimes makes for good theater. Over the years, both the owner and I had become somewhat fond of one another.
With my husband and son out of town, and time on my hand to spare, I decided to stop by and visit with her a little. I could use a good laugh today. She had a couple of clients come in and out, but I hung around and chatted with her for a while.
When the store was completely empty, she asked me how I was coping, with both my husband and I being unemployed. I told her we were getting by, having exhausted our savings, and unemployment was also helping.
I told her that I was in the process of entering grad school for my master’s in Social Work, as my unemployment was nearing an end. Why don't you get a job instead of going to school, she asked? I explained that school would pay off in the long run, and I was willing to do other jobs until I was done.
This opened the door to talk about the high unemployment rate across the country. I agreed with her that it was tough out here. At that moment, she walked up to me and said: "I don’t know how you feel about this, but I think Barack Obama is the greatest disaster, ever." ‘How?' I asked.
She went on to tell me that he has ruined the country, economy and all. I countered by telling her that the country was already messed up when he took over, that George Bush had a lot to do with it. At first she disagreed about Bush. Then she agreed that Bush had ruined the economy, but that president Obama ruined the housing market. I told her I that I’d grant her that this president had made some missteps, but she could not lay the blame of the country’s mess at his feet. That she could not expect him to fix in six months the kinds of problems we are facing.
At that point, she said to me, "OK, we can’t discuss politics because we are on opposite sides." I agreed. I had known this woman for about four years, and so I said, OK, knowing that politics can leave some deep divisions amongst friends. No sooner had we agreed to drop political discussions, she went there. She couldn't help herself.
With the worst kind of disdain I had heard ever from someone, she said, "That Barack Obama is the devil incarnate." I don’t know if I was shocked or angry to hear this person that I thought I knew better, utter such a thing.
Before I could say anything else, she said, "You show me his birth certificate." On that I said to her, that it was clear her dislike for the president had little to do with his politics than something else. I told her I never expected to hear those kinds of views expressed by her. I was so mad, I guess a little disappointed. I picked up my purse and told her goodbye.
I don’t think I will ever go back into that store. I was half way out of the door and she was saying something but I intentionally blocked her out. I did not want to hear anything else she had to say.
I would have sat there and gladly discussed politics with her – the differences in George Bush and this president, but I refused to sit there and talk to someone, that I deeply believe was spouting baseless statements she had picked up on the Internet and via e-mails.
I have watched her hold discussions with others many times in her store. She is not one to bend when her mind is made up. I thought I better leave immediately or else she would not like to hear what I had to say if this continued.
I never expected that from her. I was taken aback to say the least, but I was not going to let her get away with it.
I was fuming, that a seemingly reasonable person could be so obtuse. I was hardly out of the store when I began dialing my sister’s telephone number to tell her what I had just witnessed. I had read about this kind of crap, but never have I heard someone actually speak the words, much less someone I thought I knew.
For me, that was way too much, especially on this very, very hot day.