Ghostbusters
You'll pardon me if I get somewhat personal on this one. I mean, this blog is literally about myself and processes that I go through but this one will go a little deeper than normal.
On my desk in my office sits a picture in a frame. I'm notoriously bad at keeping pictures. I have a decent amount but they're sitting in photo albums and looked at seldomly. I have never looked at my wedding video. I have not looked at my retirement ceremony. Mom told me she has a video of my high school graduation. I've never looked at it. If there's a picture I want to look at it's a picture that means something to me. The picture is from college and it's of me and three other friends, dressed as the Ghostbusters for Halloween.
It occurred me today that all three of the other guys in that photo voted for Donald Trump. I can safely infer this.
My interest here isn't political. It's more on how a president can affect a country and there shouldn't be any debate on the statement that Donald Trump has certainly affected the country. More than anything, I have paid attention to the treatment of minorities, rather, mistreatment. It literally is what Trump promised and he's absolutely delivered on that. So I'm clear, that isn't a good thing. For those who are personally affected, I would imagine it's a nightmare. All wrapped up behind the supposed blanket of nationalism.
The three college buddies aren't even close to the only people who I know voted for Trump. Some I work with. Some I practice jiu-jitsu with. Some I served with.
Before the election, when I talked more openly about these things, I tried to tell people that when you vote for a person, you vote for 100% of them. And when someone like Trump spoke of the things he did, how he did, I believed him. Yet, I was told over and over again by others how he didn't mean the things he said. He didn't mean the Mexican comments. He didn't really want to build a wall. It was only rhetoric. A lot of these things were rooted in very bad places and people who I call friend still casted their vote for such a person. There was a man who openly disparaged minorities and people who I call friend still casted their vote for such a person. Some even have gone so far as to now defend the things they said Trump would never do.
I don't know how this makes me feel. Not at all. It's been well over 2 years and I still can't really process it. These people did vote for someone who is an amoral, garbage person. What I cannot ascertain is why, or more specifically, what about Trump made them vote for him.
I'm at the point where I just have to sit and observe who says what and from there I have to make decisions as to the place people hold in my life. I freely admit that whether I not I know someone voted for Trump, if they hold a place of friendship in my life I'm immensely disappointed in them. I truly wish they would talk with me about why or there was some magic button where I knew the answers in their head. I simultaneously want to know and don't want to know. It is a very complex, difficult thing.
At the same time, I have to exist with people who have voted for the man. Someone I respect posted a meme that was undoubtedly, unquestionably racist. What do I do? Argue loudly about it? Rage against that machine? How much of the meme did the person mean? Did the person think it was a joke? I have no clue. What I do know is I will actively see this person for the foreseeable future. I have to make my peace with what this person did and keep moving. Maybe one day I can have a dialogue with this person one day and we can learn from each other. I don't know. I really can't call it.
I'm one man. One minority. I can't speak for minorities all but I can tell you I think we are all thinking similar things about our friends in relation to Trump but honestly, in so many other decisions. I think we all have compromises.
What I hope is that those who aren't minorities, those who aren't likely to be affected by the madness that is going on, look at those who are suffering and try to understand what they are going through. I hope my Ghostbusters friends, and others, realize their Winston is very concerned about the state of the world right now and is having to question a lot of things about a lot of people. I don't know if they understand that. Even sadder, I don't know if some of them want to.
For all of our sakes, I hope so.
On my desk in my office sits a picture in a frame. I'm notoriously bad at keeping pictures. I have a decent amount but they're sitting in photo albums and looked at seldomly. I have never looked at my wedding video. I have not looked at my retirement ceremony. Mom told me she has a video of my high school graduation. I've never looked at it. If there's a picture I want to look at it's a picture that means something to me. The picture is from college and it's of me and three other friends, dressed as the Ghostbusters for Halloween.
It occurred me today that all three of the other guys in that photo voted for Donald Trump. I can safely infer this.
My interest here isn't political. It's more on how a president can affect a country and there shouldn't be any debate on the statement that Donald Trump has certainly affected the country. More than anything, I have paid attention to the treatment of minorities, rather, mistreatment. It literally is what Trump promised and he's absolutely delivered on that. So I'm clear, that isn't a good thing. For those who are personally affected, I would imagine it's a nightmare. All wrapped up behind the supposed blanket of nationalism.
The three college buddies aren't even close to the only people who I know voted for Trump. Some I work with. Some I practice jiu-jitsu with. Some I served with.
Before the election, when I talked more openly about these things, I tried to tell people that when you vote for a person, you vote for 100% of them. And when someone like Trump spoke of the things he did, how he did, I believed him. Yet, I was told over and over again by others how he didn't mean the things he said. He didn't mean the Mexican comments. He didn't really want to build a wall. It was only rhetoric. A lot of these things were rooted in very bad places and people who I call friend still casted their vote for such a person. There was a man who openly disparaged minorities and people who I call friend still casted their vote for such a person. Some even have gone so far as to now defend the things they said Trump would never do.
I don't know how this makes me feel. Not at all. It's been well over 2 years and I still can't really process it. These people did vote for someone who is an amoral, garbage person. What I cannot ascertain is why, or more specifically, what about Trump made them vote for him.
I'm at the point where I just have to sit and observe who says what and from there I have to make decisions as to the place people hold in my life. I freely admit that whether I not I know someone voted for Trump, if they hold a place of friendship in my life I'm immensely disappointed in them. I truly wish they would talk with me about why or there was some magic button where I knew the answers in their head. I simultaneously want to know and don't want to know. It is a very complex, difficult thing.
At the same time, I have to exist with people who have voted for the man. Someone I respect posted a meme that was undoubtedly, unquestionably racist. What do I do? Argue loudly about it? Rage against that machine? How much of the meme did the person mean? Did the person think it was a joke? I have no clue. What I do know is I will actively see this person for the foreseeable future. I have to make my peace with what this person did and keep moving. Maybe one day I can have a dialogue with this person one day and we can learn from each other. I don't know. I really can't call it.
I'm one man. One minority. I can't speak for minorities all but I can tell you I think we are all thinking similar things about our friends in relation to Trump but honestly, in so many other decisions. I think we all have compromises.
What I hope is that those who aren't minorities, those who aren't likely to be affected by the madness that is going on, look at those who are suffering and try to understand what they are going through. I hope my Ghostbusters friends, and others, realize their Winston is very concerned about the state of the world right now and is having to question a lot of things about a lot of people. I don't know if they understand that. Even sadder, I don't know if some of them want to.
For all of our sakes, I hope so.
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