Two questions were asked of me
On the eve of Thanksgiving I was asked two very different questions by two very different people. Both were very surprising and on reflection, the answers I gave when asked were not the best I could have given.
The first was "Do you want Donald Trump to fail?" While my initial reaction was to say "heck yes" but that wasn't what I said. My answer was "I'd like to see him be a one-term president." What I wish I'd said was "it depends on how you define failure and success."
Donald Trump has said he wants to bring jobs back to the U.S. and I'd love to see him succeed at doing that. I'd love to see an economy growing during his tenure in the Oval Office.
I do not want to see our freedoms eroded. Donald Trump has said he wants to limit the freedom of the press, to make it easier for the news media to be sued for libel. I do not want him to succeed at that, so yes, in that area I want to see him fail.
Donald Trump wants to limit civil service protections for government employees. On the surface that seems like an erosion of rights, but then I think about the so-called "rubber rooms" where teachers who cannot be fired sit all day. Where they earn their full salary and benefits for doing nothing and I wonder, is that a good thing?
The point is that there are so many things involved in a presidency that to use words like fail and succeed overall aren't easily handled. Mr. Trump has disavowed the alt-right and their ilk, but actions speak louder than words. He claims to believe that Stephen Bannon is not a racist, and he may not be. But his tenure at Breitbart and the accusations against him are troubling. So are allegations that Bannon was paid illegally by a PAC while working in the Trump campaign. Trump's loyalty is admirable, to a point.
In the end, I want America to succeed. Because, or in spite of whoever is President.
* * *
The other question I was asked occurred as I sat in my car in the parking lot outside the office. I was eating my fast-food breakfast and minding my own business when a car pulled in next to mine. The woman driving got out and took some boxes out of her car and put them on my trunk. I rolled down my window to demand an explanation just as she picked them up off of my car.
"They're my cupcakes" she exclaimed in an attempt at explaining why she had used my car as a resting place rather than my own. Then she asked me "Why in the world are you eating THAT?"
I sputtered for a moment and then replied politely "I don't see how that is any of your business." She wished me a good day before walking away.
What I wish I'd said is "who in the world are you to be asking me such a personal question? You aren't a part of my life. You aren't friend or family and even they wouldn't dare to invade my privacy like that. Mind your own F*****g business!!"
When I see someone smoking I don't ask them why they do something that is so bad for them. It isn't my business. It is their life, their choice. I might try to convince a loved one to stop smoking for the benefit of their health, but not at the spur of the moment. But it is far more likely I would just avoid them when they smoked because their smoke is so bad for my lungs.
My diet is nobody's business but mine. My doctors get to have some input but even they show respect and concern rather than disdain when they raise the subject.
I'll spend most of my Thanksgiving alone and right now I'm actually looking forward to not being asked any more questions for at least one day.
The first was "Do you want Donald Trump to fail?" While my initial reaction was to say "heck yes" but that wasn't what I said. My answer was "I'd like to see him be a one-term president." What I wish I'd said was "it depends on how you define failure and success."
Donald Trump has said he wants to bring jobs back to the U.S. and I'd love to see him succeed at doing that. I'd love to see an economy growing during his tenure in the Oval Office.
I do not want to see our freedoms eroded. Donald Trump has said he wants to limit the freedom of the press, to make it easier for the news media to be sued for libel. I do not want him to succeed at that, so yes, in that area I want to see him fail.
Donald Trump wants to limit civil service protections for government employees. On the surface that seems like an erosion of rights, but then I think about the so-called "rubber rooms" where teachers who cannot be fired sit all day. Where they earn their full salary and benefits for doing nothing and I wonder, is that a good thing?
The point is that there are so many things involved in a presidency that to use words like fail and succeed overall aren't easily handled. Mr. Trump has disavowed the alt-right and their ilk, but actions speak louder than words. He claims to believe that Stephen Bannon is not a racist, and he may not be. But his tenure at Breitbart and the accusations against him are troubling. So are allegations that Bannon was paid illegally by a PAC while working in the Trump campaign. Trump's loyalty is admirable, to a point.
In the end, I want America to succeed. Because, or in spite of whoever is President.
* * *
The other question I was asked occurred as I sat in my car in the parking lot outside the office. I was eating my fast-food breakfast and minding my own business when a car pulled in next to mine. The woman driving got out and took some boxes out of her car and put them on my trunk. I rolled down my window to demand an explanation just as she picked them up off of my car.
"They're my cupcakes" she exclaimed in an attempt at explaining why she had used my car as a resting place rather than my own. Then she asked me "Why in the world are you eating THAT?"
I sputtered for a moment and then replied politely "I don't see how that is any of your business." She wished me a good day before walking away.
What I wish I'd said is "who in the world are you to be asking me such a personal question? You aren't a part of my life. You aren't friend or family and even they wouldn't dare to invade my privacy like that. Mind your own F*****g business!!"
When I see someone smoking I don't ask them why they do something that is so bad for them. It isn't my business. It is their life, their choice. I might try to convince a loved one to stop smoking for the benefit of their health, but not at the spur of the moment. But it is far more likely I would just avoid them when they smoked because their smoke is so bad for my lungs.
My diet is nobody's business but mine. My doctors get to have some input but even they show respect and concern rather than disdain when they raise the subject.
I'll spend most of my Thanksgiving alone and right now I'm actually looking forward to not being asked any more questions for at least one day.
posted by me at 9:16 PM
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