A Date With A Trumpster

photo credit: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Trump_SNL

Let's wind back the clock. I was at a friend's house for an Easter-egg-dying party. Seated in a circle around the table were friends of my friend, including one particularly semi-obnoxious man, a Trump- supporting Baptist whose views were incredibly opposite to my own (hereinafter known in this post as "Trumpster").

Let me make this clear before I continue with the rest of the story: I can't stand Trump, mostly because his views tend to polarize the country along racial lines and social class. He's a buffoon that doesn't belong in leadership. I could probably write a book about why he doesn't belong in leadership, but I'll leave that for another forum. Just know that I think Trump is a freaking racist misogynist and that most of his supporters are the Archie Bunkers of the United States.

My friend told me that she had a falling out with Trumpster. She recounted the story to me a few months ago. I couldn't really remember much about the falling out story itself, other than recalling that he was an ass and she couldn't stand him anymore. She did what most women do - phased him out. Ghosted him. The ghost, however, came to haunt me on my POF account.

Last week, on POF, the Trumpster messaged me. He expressed how he remembered me from our friend's party, how he adored my friend, and asked me how I was doing these days. I exchanged polite conversation, keeping it light and trying to keep it distant. 

He asked me for my number, saying it was easier to keep in touch via text message rather than POF. I agreed and gave him my cell. I told my friend that Trumpster had reached out. I thought, initially, he wanted to try to use me as a medium to patch things up with my friend. My friend insisted this was not the case. "He's crazed for women." 

Surely, not me, an anti-Trump, Catholic, I thought to myself. I wanted to know the real reason that he was reaching out to me. Why now? Why so many months later? It had to be because of my friend. 

Eventually, he asked me to go boating with him. I agreed, thinking to myself, how bad could it be? After all, I could make a new friend out of it... plus I wanted to find out how much of a Trump supporter he really was. I mean, back around Easter, Trump was an ass, but his insanity hadn't quite yet climaxed... okay let's face it, his insanity is always climaxing, but I digress. 

We met at the docks in a ritzy part of town. As we were pulling out of the docks in the boat, I commented on the beauty of the large houses. And so it began - the racist comments. Much like his much-adored Trump, he started out with a stellar response. "Welcome to whitehood." 

WHAT THE F***!? I thought to myself. I didn't laugh. I gave a half-smile and looked at him, saying, "Really, dude?" I found the comment to be offensive towards non-whites, as well as myself. Let's face it, in the encyclopedia, I might be white. To the rest of America, I'm brown as brown gets. I come from a long line of doctors, lawyers, business people, and politicians. Anyone who knew the history of my family, and each individual contained in it, would be in pure awe. Somehow, it seems to get negated by certain people of certain mutated and half-witted thought processes. 

The next comment happened at the first bar we stopped off at. I made a remark about how beautiful the birds were. He responded, "Towards the later afternoon, the pelicans start to come out to get food when more fish are out jumping. You know, they're not just there to get the welfare checks." WHAT THE F***!? Is this guy serious? I looked at him again, with the same half smile. "Okay, okay, I'll stop with the jokes."

Now, some might say, he was trying to relax the atmosphere. Hell freaking no. Someone who makes jokes like that honestly holds those beliefs. To crack jokes like that is a test - to see how far I'll go, to see how much I'll tolerate. If I was laughing along with him and rolling with the "white homies," then he would have cracked more of the jokes. Since I wasn't, and visibly repulsed, he stopped. 

The rest of the day went well. We enjoyed some nice fresh fish, a gyro, and some beautiful views of the shores. He turned out to be a funny guy who could crack normal jokes. I laughed more times than I could count. Like all days, the sun had to set. 

There we were, in the middle of the water, with the sun getting ready to dip down, the clouds painted in hues of orange and pink. Slowly, his arm came around me. Shit. Trumpster is trying to move in. The whole day, I honestly thought he just wanted to be friends. He moved in for a kiss on the mouth. I turned. He got my cheek. After a few moments, he wanted to kiss me again. Again, he got the cheek. 

After a few more jokes and a few more moments of conversation, he wanted to know why I wouldn't give "us" a chance. I told him that I didn't like he was a Trump supporter.

"I think that if you support Trump, now, today, after everything he has said and done, there is a difference in our values and opinions that reaches down to the core. I don't think I can be with someone like that. We're having fun now, but eventually, this clash of core values will bubble up." 

He responded by saying that what some of Trump has said is insane, but he truly believed that Trump could change the economy. "He's a real estate guy, like me." 

Call me crazy, but I focus on more than one issue when I'm thinking about electing the leader of my country. I didn't push the topic. I told him that I wanted to be friends, but I didn't think we'd work out. He was understanding, and we started to head home. 

He was nice, he was fun, but deep down, he holds some racist views. I think to ever support Trump, you yourself must also hold some racist views. If you don't, then there's no way you could ever swallow the shit that Trump spews. If you don't swallow the shit that Trump spews, it means you must be at least a half-way decent human being that can reject racism, bigotry, and misogyny. 

Are all Trumpsters bad people? They're not necessarily evil, but I will say this: I firmly believe they are the precursors to people like Hitler and Putin. If you let it slide, then tyrants will continue to slide right in. It's a clash of values, and I just can't be with someone who clashes with my values that deeply.