This past week I saw one of my students in the caf. Here's a transcription of our brief conversation:
She: Hey, Dr. Ickenham!* Are you here for the ______ meeting?
Me: What's that?
She: He's the Democratic candidate for _______.
Me: Oh yeah, I heard he was coming to campus. Actually, I'm just here for a department meeting. Besides, I'm not a Democrat.
She: Really? That surprises me.
Me: It does? Why?
She: Oh wait--that's right. You're from the South.
*Redacted
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Limited Perspective from a Walking Anachronism
6 comments:
Niiiiiiiiiiice.
Everyone from the south is Republican right - as a matter of fact the last two Democratic presidents were previously governors of Southern states. Go figure.
I've a patient who is a Democratic blogger and filmmaker. At a recent visit, she noted "you ARE a Democrat, right?". It's interesting how to many folks, you are the same politically as they are.
I've another patient who's working w/Al Gore on training folks to talk about climate change. He's one of those nice folks who doesn't say - "you're not one of those climate killers, are you?".
That's great.
When I told a colleague at my school that I didn't vote Dem in the last election, she said: "Oh, you don't strike me as a Green Party person." 'Cause of course that's the only other reasonable option.
(PS--think this is the first time I've seen you use your last name on the blog!)
Whoops! It's changed, now.
You're right, though, about the overwhelmingly prevalent assumption that we're all Democrats or Greens. The reasoning seems to be, "But...you're smart! How could you be anything else?"
Sadly, I'm stuck being both "stupid" for not being a Democrat and "going to hell in a hand basket" for not being Republican.
Wait, can I actually not be either one? DO I EVEN EXIST???
The problem here is that those of us who would prefer to identify as independents are often accused of copping out. But what are we to do when both major parties suck so bad?
Why is being Anti-Democrat so bad? I hardly watch TV anymore, but there is so much Dem saturation that I'm sick of hearing about the Dem candidates. I probably couldn't even name three Republicans running. Maybe. But I'm not excited about anyone in the running. I had a co-worker years ago who consistenly wrote in her cat for president. Greta? How's her outlook on illegal immigration?
OH, and by the way, my word verification for this comment should practically be a KK word: disfnafa. "I'm hungry! Where's my Disfnafa?!"
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