Anyone else who lives in an area red as a baboon's arse have the

[raccoon]

experience of being in a group and some people apparently assume that
because the area is so damn right-wing, that EVERYBODY there is right-wing
and thinks the way they do?

[Lars39]

1. Oh, yes.

Only thing worse is being in a large group of religious fundamentalists. It's like being in a Twilight Zone episode where you start questioning reality.

[Glorfindel]

2. Yes, indeed.

All the time.

[Tribalceltic]

3. Yes

And this being a syg state I keep quiet and choke the vomit back.

[Coventina]

4. All.The.Time

The worst is when I have to listen to people hurt by the Bush Recession gripe about their situation, and then BLAME DEMOCRATS!

It's gotten to the point that I avoid social interactions with anyone but those I know well and know are sane.

*sigh*

[angel823]

5. Oh yeah

But not when I am with folks that know me

They know better.

Angel in Texas

[LynneSin]

6. I know the area...

I've stood in line at the grocery store behind the white folks spending their food stamps and complaining about how minorities are nothing more than lazy people living off the government teat.

I've been to the party filled with right-wing gun nutz getting high off huffing gas fumes, smoking meth and they complain that our cities are nothing more than urban blight filled with minorities high on crack.

There's a reason I don't live in rural Pennsylvania anymore - I'm tired of being surrounded by people with a warped sense of reality.

That's why I'm happy living in the city.

[Populist_Prole]

7. Oh hell yes!

Based on my appearance ( I guess I sorta look and dress mostly like Hank Hill from 'King of the Hill' except with longer hair and without classes ) and some of my interests/hobbies, I could tell lots of conservative acquaintances assume I'm one of them. They broach politics without the slightest notion of feeling me out and launch right into racist bullshit or other libertarian/rightist muck without any hesitation when they first talk to me.

[hamsterjill]

8. In Texas, how could I possibly avoid it?

They all seem very surprised when someone dares to speak up and disagree, too.

[DFW]

19. All we have to say is, "I'm from Texas."

That usually suffices as an explanation.

Maybe we can elect Wendy and change all that!

[hamsterjill]

30. Boy, that would be my Christmas present!!!

I am working hard for Wendy, and I will be SO delighted if she wins!!!

And you're right as to no other explanation needed than "We're from Texas", etc.

When I went to vote in the recent primary, I was asked by the election work which party's ballot I wanted. I spoke the word "Democrat" softly and he remarked, "you don't have to whisper". (I wasn't really trying to be quiet but Texas has pollen allergies, too, and I didn't have much of a voice that day).

Anyway, I replied back that, "In Texas, you have to be careful." He just laughed.

Go, Wendy, Go!!! And Leticia, too!

[RebelOne]

9. Definitely, I live in Cherokee County, Georgia.

It is so red that it glows.

[Skittles]

11. you want I should kick glowing red ass, RebelOne?

I have decades of experience in Texas; yes INDEED

[Skittles]

10. it's FANTASTIC telling them I am a bonafide LIBERAL

they FREAK

[Lady Freedom Returns]

13. +1

It is not as bad here in AZ as it was in SW MO!

[raven mad]

12. Yep. Till they see my bumper stickers...............

Actually, I'm hoping that we're getting more purple by the day, but as my state is a wholly owned subsidiary of Big Oil, I don't really expect much progress before the NEXT millennium.

[CFLDem]

14. Yup

Oh well such is life.

[KT2000]

15. absolutely!

speak up - I always assume they need a reminder.
People have lost their manners. They know there are people who do not think as they do but they like to bully.

[No Vested Interest]

16. All the time. nt

[Paladin]

17. Oh, yeah.

Same with the field I worked in for so many years, oil and gas: lily-white and 99.99999% right-wing.

Bonus points to you for the baboon's arse image......

[Tsiyu]

18. I just usually out myself as a radical liberal

right up front.

They always laugh.
They sometimes argue.
They sometimes listen.

Excluding the real toxic ones, with whom I choose not to engage, most accept me and it's a rural place so everyone knows who I am by now.

[Blue_In_AK]

20. I just had that experience while poll watching our municipal election

last Tuesday in one of our redder precincts in town. The lady in charge made it real clear through her conversations (thankfully when no voters were around) where her allegiances lay. The other poll worker sitting next to me just looked at me and rolled her eyes. I would have though that a poll worker would have been a bit more circumspect, but I didn't report her since she kept her mouth shut when voters were in the area.

[sakabatou]

21. No, I live in deep blue

[murielm99]

22. I was in a furniture store the other day

where I have been a regular customer. We are doing some extensive remodeling and redecorating here, after thirty-five years in the same house. We can afford it at last!

A man came in the store and interrupted my conversation with the owner. I was buying window coverings (not cheap). He was just visiting, not purchasing, like me. He said, "This neighborhood is really deteriorating, isn't it?"

I said, "If you are referring to my bumper stickers, I will defend my positions."

He said, "No, no," and left.

Not long ago, I was at a dinner with a group of people who were my husband's former classmates. One of them remarked, portentously, with all the body language and facial expressions that go with such self-righteousness, that we are a Christian nation founded on Christian principles. When I took my copy of the Constitution out of my purse and asked him to show me where the references were to the Trinity, the baby Jesus, or any other mention Christianity, he became very angry and shouted at me.

I have had all sorts of experiences with people who assume I agree with them. They become very indignant when I do not.

Isn't it odd that they are allowed to express their opinions, but we are looked on with disfavor if we speak up? Yup. Free speech in action, right wing style!

[pink-o]

23. I used to live in Redding (California)

Moved up from SF to help a friend when her mom died. I knew I was in trouble when the next-door neighbor had this bumper sticker:

"God created man.
Smith and Wesson made them equal."

But my friend who moved to Charlotte, NC topped me. He came into the break room at his new job, and heard everyone talking about how they loathed the Yankees, that the Yankees were scum and should all be stung up and shot. So my friend asked one guy which baseball team they liked in the area. The guy gave him the dead-eye stare and replies.

"We're not talkin' about baseball here, Son."

[marzipanni]

24. A little, wizened guy with cowboy boots and hat

who lives out in the country between the S.F. Bay Area and Sacramento has a bumper sticker on the side rear window of his little pick up truck's camper shell. It's a facsimile of a hunting license... for hunting Democrats.

[pink-o]

29. What a prince! He should meet my ex neighbor.

Honestly, people talk of the North v South in California, it's really West v East! (With the exception of Grass Valley/Nevada City that's just full of cool stoners.). Seriously, once you get away from the coast, Cali is like Okie.

Weird disconnect.

[KamaAina]

32. Not quite. Sac is okay

because of all the people from the coastal regions who flock to the capital, and Davis is actually kind of cool, being a UC town and all.

[DamnYankeeInHouston]

25. They all know where I stand by looking at my bummper stickers

from my oldest "The Bush Legacy: Leave No Child a Dime"
to my newest "I Stand With Wendy."

[blueamy66]

26. Yep.

In a bar in Garrettsville, OH. What a crappy town that was.

I love to debate as much as the next guy, but I figured that these people could be dangerous.

I bit my tongue every single time I was in there. But it was the only place in town, other than a college bar.

Glad I got the hell outta there.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

27. Yes. That's why I don't go to any groups and have no friends.

Last edited Sat Apr 5, 2014, 05:46 PM - Edit history (1)

One guy in a shop (the clerk) in Oklahoma was bragging about his grandson being in the military.

The kid was supposed to go up on stage for a ceremony for some military honor with President Clinton.
The grandson refused to go on stage, disrespecting the Commander in Chief, and this guy said he was proud of his grandson "because Clinton wasn't a Godly man."

I was thoroughly disgusted and so was hubby. I guess I should have asked him had he ever heard of "Judge not lest ye be judged." All these assholes who try to argue the bible with me never read it. All they know is what some ignorant preacher tells them, which is basically to pray their asses off and have faith, regardless of reality.

[femmocrat]

28. I just avoid the situation by never talking to anyone! LOL

When the conversations turn to idiocy, I walk away. Life is too short and you will never change their minds. They have been brain-washed by Faux News.

I have found the old adage, "Never discuss religion or politics" to be a good guidepost.

[narnian60]

31. +1

Same philosophy here.