weird thing that just happened

[asakiyume]

I was talking to my neighbor on her front lawn, and an unknown-to-us guy, White guy in his 50s, maybe, or maybe 60s, short silvery hair and sunglasses on, drives up. He rolls down the window and...

Him: Hey, hey, I need to ask you something.

Us: .... Yes?

Him: My daughter is thinking of moving into this neighborhood, is looking to move into this neighborhood, but I need to know: are there a lot of Trump supporters here?

Us: .... There are ... some. You'll see a few signs if you drive around.

(I would guess my neighborhood is 80% anti-Trump or neutral and 20% pro-Trump.)

Him: But it's mainly anti-Trump, right? She's coming from Texas and doesn't want to live with a whole bunch of Trump supporters.

(I can't speak for my neighbor, but at this point I was feeling very uncomfortable about this guy.)

Us: Well, yes, there are probably more anti-Trump people than pro-Trump people, but you'll find both.

Him: Okay, thanks. *Drives off with a vroom along a quiet residential road.*

Me: That felt fake. I don't think that guy was really asking for his daughter.

Her: He drove off like a Trump supporter.

It was very strange

Comments

[queenoftheskies]

People are sooooo weird these days.

[asakiyume]

Definitely

[threemeninaboat]

When we were looking at this neighborhood I asked one of the old guys if this was a loud neighborhood and he said, "You can hear the cows sometimes."

[asakiyume]

That's a great answer!

[sovay]

Her: He drove off like a Trump supporter.

That sounds weird. I hope nothing weirder comes of it.

[asakiyume]

Same same!

[genarti]

100% agreed. Ugh.

[kore]

Wow, that's fucking gross.

I probably would have said "Well I don't think the nice ladies at the Chattering Order of St Beryl are Trump supporters!" and gotten myself in trouble.

[asakiyume]

I just didn't get what he was really after. I felt like he was trying to stir up trouble, but what sort of trouble? Like if we had come out spewing about being anti-Trump, then what? Or suppose we *had* been pro-Trump? What was he hoping for. Just so weird.

[kore]

Also "He drove off like a Trump supporter" makes me love your neighbour.

[minoanmiss]

Me too. I cracked up at that.

[asakiyume]

She's pretty funny :-)

[asakiyume]

LOL!

[amaebi]

Yeah, that's righteous.

[sartorias]

Creeeeeepy!

[asakiyume]

Right? Like he was the Goddess Eris, using words instead of a golden apple.

[anna_wing]

How bizarre. Do you have Neighbourhood Watch or something like that? Report as a Suspicious Occurrence?

[asakiyume]

We don't have a neighborhood watch, but we have a facebook group. I'll think about it.

[athenais]

Yeah, sure she is. Strange days.

[asakiyume]

Right? It felt like someone saying something racist to see how people would respond to something racist. And in that sense I feel like we acquitted ourselves fairly well but not brilliantly: we said this is a mixed neighborhood where people of different political persuasions live side by side. We did't get drawn in to saying anything anti-Trump. On the other hand, we didn't exactly *defend* the notion of people of different political persuasions living side by side, and we didn't defend the Trump supporters.

And why, really, should we? Racism is [among other things] a set of contemptuous feelings for people for something over which they have no control. No one chooses the melanin content of their skin. But people choose their political views, and as their political views get more and more hurtful to everyone except themselves, why should the rest of us defend them?

[cmcmck]

How very odd!

[asakiyume]

It was odd.

[mallorys_camera]

What kind of car was he driving? Serious question.

It's an odd question to ask, fashure, and I trust your instincts and therefore (by association) anyone you think is worth hanging out with. If you thought something was weird, something probably was.

On the other hand, I can see not wanting to move into a Trumper neighborhood, and I'm not entirely sure how one learns about that kind of stuff without asking.

[asakiyume]

I'm carblind. It was blue and sporty; that's all I can say.

I don't think it was a genuine question. I think he was trying to provoke an anti-Trump spiel that he could then talk about having heard. But I can't know for sure. Anti-Trump people of my acquaintance just don't *act* the way he was acting; that's what made me suspicious.

[mallorys_camera]

I trust your judgement.

[amaebi]

Brrrrrrrrr.

What seemed hinky to you about the man?

I have in fact been thinking lately about how we haven't ever thought about a neighbourhood's politics when housebuying. The cul-de-sac our last house was in was-- or at least those who chose to erect markers-- very Republican. Our next-door neighbour had up a Tom Tancredo sign in 2008.

In our current neighbourhood and throughout the town nearly all the signs are Trump/Pence. I have seen a QANON sign near Chun Woo's middle school.

I have wondered whether leftie people are not posting signs. We have only a Penzey's Vote sign. I have read snarling conversations on Nextdoor about sign-stealing.

I have wondered whether the Dem campaigns were not concentrating much on signs.

Yesterday Sheeyun and I went for lunch in Golden, whose downtowner residents have largely posted Biden/Harris signs. Sheeyun tells me that Golden is typically conservative.

[asakiyume]

I think what made me suspicious was first, that he asked the question in an aggressive way that made me assume that he assumed we were anti-Trump. It wasn't at all oblique, which I'm thinking it might have been if he wanted to know without alienating people. It was pushy. So he was inviting people he assumed were anti-Trump to say some negative things-- maybe "Yeah, there aren't many of THOSE SORT here" or "Unfortunately we have some of THOSE ASSHOLES here." And then he could talk about how unwelcoming anti-Trumpers are, or engage in an argument or something.

If I was worried about moving into a very pro-Trump neighborhood, or about my daughter moving into one, I would probably ask something like, "So, what are people's politics like around here?" and then judge for myself from the response.

[amaebi]

Thanks!

Yes, that all sounds spot-on.

[asakiyume]

Also, you live in a way more Trump-supporting environment than we do. That must really take its toll.

[amaebi]

I am feeling wrung-out indeed, though I think it's probably generated at a higher level and after almost four years is a lot.

That I m now quite isolated online as well as off makes things. I am fortunate: it turns out that, right now, Sheeyun is willing to hear me.

[asakiyume]

I'm very glad Sheeyun is in a listening phase at present (and I'm sorry about your isolation).

[wayfaringwordhack]

Very strange indeed. Passiv-aggressive at the least

[asakiyume]

Altogether strange

[ivy]

I hope it was just a passing weirdness and you never hear from him again.

[asakiyume]

Same same.

So far, so good.

[rimturse]

Very odd. Of course we tend to not speak about politics or religion here. I have no clue what my neighbours vote for and the same goes for most of my family and friends. Guesses is as close as I get. :p

[asakiyume]

This guy definitely did NOT have a Danish sensibility!