books with friends, commuting with tea partiers

[anotheranon]

Yesterday I had a pleasant catchup with dustdaughter over lunch. We chatted books and exchanged a few as well, and she was kind enough to accompany my getting lost in a nearby used book store - anyplace with outdoor shelves that say "everything for $2" is like a magnet :P

Like many of the liberal persuasion I enjoyed a few appalled and spiteful yuks at a Tea Partier's guide to DC, but didn't actually expect to run into any given that we were meeting well outside the safe zone. Nonetheless I found myself in a packed metro train full of them on the way home, with ample chance to observe.

Not much to see, really. On the whole they didn't seem any more or less tired, sweaty, and eager to get to their destinations than anyone else. Lots of American flag paraphernalia - t-shirts, folding chairs (! isn't it unpatriotic to sit on the flag?), mini-flags used as hair sticks, the odd pro-life button or large crucifix. The "restoring honor" shirts with the Founding Fathers on them bewildered me - whose "honor" is being restored, and was it really ever lost in the first place? I gather that Glenn Beck holding it at the Lincoln Memorial was an attempt to ride the civil rights movement's coattails which is laughable, but Beck is a blowhard - who knows if he actually believes the bilge he spouts?

Nah, the overall impression I got of my fellow commuters (sartorially, at least) was that they feel threatened in some way, and have something to prove re: patriotism/"Real American"ism. If the writer of the tea partier's guide linked above is representative there's a lot of fear of change and those different from themselves. What a sad, defensive way to view the world.

When I was finally able to sit I read "Girl Genius" and didn't pay them much mind - I reckon they'd be far more afraid of a liberal, feminist, bisexual agnostic than I could ever be of them.

Comments

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

I echo you on the clueless Metro riders, but that's to be expected of anyone from out of town.

Didn't really speak to or overhear anything annoying, though I found the ubiquitous flag-wrapping of everything on their person kind of jarring.

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

Especially when you consider the flag rules.

From the little I saw on Sat., I got the sense that too many of the people involved didn't truly understand American History or flag rules. And they act the arbiters of both. The ignorance and arrogance makes me shudder.

I kept my head down and mouth shut because I wasn't certain I'd be able to keep the snark in control.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

I am learning to keep my own snark in check. I think maybe I'm finally realizing that my "itching for a fight with conservatives" is just me wanting to be right, dammit, and I'm not going to convince anyone of anything by starting something.

I admit I may have been prejudging (see my reply to fearga downthread), but one of the things I may not have made clear in my post was just how non-confrontational the actions of the people on my train, no matter the flinch-worthy flag-wrapping.