Hate and Ugliness

They look like ordinary people.  Mostly older, retired, and well off.  We met through a friend and started joining them for dinner every Wednesday evening several years ago.  Though we usually meet at a restaurant, tonight they came to our house for dinner.  

My day off, we spent it shopping, cleaning and cooking.  By the time everyone arrived I was already tired.

They sat in my living room enjoying their cocktails and  hors'dourves while we started plating the salad.  Then it happened,  Ms. W mentioned, with disgust and concern in her voice, she never thought she would live to see the day when a black man could be going to the White House.

And so it began.  The discussion went on to include a disagreement with those in the living room whether he is socialist, Marxist, communist or Muslim.  Every nasty lie you've heard in the ads was quoted.  You should have heard them!  It was sickening....  In MY living room, drinking MY booze, eating MY food.  I was furious and it was all my husband could do to keep me from marching into the room, telling them off and throwing them out!   He was quite distressed that I might "offend" our guests!

Fine, I told him, in a voice loud enough for those in the living room to hear, they had some nerve and were being very rude let alone offensive to me.  My tone and anger was making him mighty nervous.  As he called everyone to the table he asked that we not discussed politics... then my mother added,  "it upsets her."  

The subject changed for about 5 minutes then the comments slowly crept back in.  That's when the headache escalated to a 9 out of 10.  Vodka helped a little.

I am totally disgusted.  Disgusted with them for their ugly hate and disgusted with myself for not speaking up.  I feel like a fraud.  There was really nothing to say beyond calling them liars and racist bigots.  You can't really reason with people that unreasonable.  To have tried to set the record straight would have gone nowhere.  Especially since "Joe" thinks he's an expert on all things and  has the "facts" he thinks will prove it. 

But I make excuses... I should have said something.

Ms. W commented as she left that the whites won't be able to use public bathrooms if "you know who" is elected.

This is the most exhausting birthday I have ever had!