Growing up I had a close friend named Cody. We were so
close, or at least we thought, that it was at times like having a third
brother. We enjoyed throwing a baseball around for hours, stealing my brother’s
golf cart and wrecking it in the woods and all sorts of mischief. Cody and I
decided to go to the same college and become roommates.
Our friendship would never quite be the same. It didn’t take
me too long to realize that my friendship with Cody had been more out of
convenience of locality – we both lived 30 miles out of town, where we went to
school, and didn’t have easy access to other friends. Living together, just for
a short while, let me see that we really didn’t have that much in common. We
didn’t have many of the same likes, beliefs, feelings. We drifted apart. I
moved out. He moved away shortly after and now we’re more occasional acquaintances
than friends and the acquaintance part has pretty much solely been online via
social media.
The big difference between the two of us could probably be
summed up by saying I cared too much and he didn’t care enough except for when
it came to cultivating and protecting his own ignorance. I’m a liberal. He’s a
conservative, though I doubt he could even tell you why. It’s just part of the
family bloodline.
These days that’s enough on its own to drive people apart.
I was watching the second presidential debate between
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on Sunday night and at one point Trump was
going off about how bad Obamacare had been for the country in a manner that led
one to believe he didn’t exactly know why nor did he know a better option for
the country. This bothered me and on Facebook I posted a status about how had I
not been covered by Obamacare over the last two years that I likely would’ve
been screwed.
Cody responded a while later to my post simply stating, “Trump
all the way.”
“Without it I’d have been screwed over the last two years.”
That’s not just words. That’s a personal admission of a person who generally
could have been screwed without this help. And, not just screwed. There is a
potential – maybe not a likelihood – but a potential that Obamacare saved my
life. In early 2015 I lost a full time job. The job was likely killing me in
ways, but it gave me medical insurance. I got a part time job, but part time
jobs don’t offer insurance. For 10 months I was making less than $1000 a month
and the zero dollars I had to pay on insurance thanks to Obamacare helped me
survive. Not only in an economical sense, but it paid for the blood pressure
and cholesterol pills and especially the CPAP machine products for my sleep
apnea that truly keep me going on a daily basis. In late December of last year,
I added a second job. Two part time jobs offer the same amount of medical insurance
as one – nada. I work six days a week most weeks, making barely over minimum
wage at each job, just to get close to 40 hours and I’m still barely pulling in
$1000 a month. Don’t take this as a complaint. I enjoy both jobs, work my ass
off at both, and even do a bit of writing, my real passion, on the side for
free. I’m just stating these facts to show how much Obamacare has done for me
and to show that I’m not some bum taking government handouts like so many are
led to believe. Obamacare allowed me to keep food in my belly and a roof over
my head instead of giving every last cent to my CPAP machine.
So, when I post something personal about something that’s
meant so much to me and somebody just comes along and merely states, “Trump all
the way,” without taking into account my thoughts, feelings or well-being, it
pisses me off.
You can like whatever politicians and policies you want. I’m
not trying to dictate that. But, if you take someone’s personal post, don’t take
into account their feelings and merely turn it into a moment to show your support
for a candidate, without backing it up with facts or even really an opinion it
makes you an asshole. And, that’s the problem many of us have with Donald Trump
and his supporters. He’s made assholery fashionable or acceptable. He’s made it
OK for people to just say and do the most deplorable things. He’s made it OK
for people to ignore the needs and feelings of others. He’s made it OK not to
have to put yourself in the shoes of others or care about anybody other than
yourself.
It didn’t surprise me when Cody posted that on my status.
Because what was a moment of personal weakness for me – showing I needed
government assistance just to survive – was a moment for him to poke fun at me
about it all. It didn’t surprise me because I grew up and grew apart with Cody.
I grew into what I hope is a good person who cares – even if it may be a little
too much. He grew into an asshole. That’s what happens when one person tries to
better themselves and another clinches his fingernails into hereditary
ignorance.
