Some responses when confronted with the absurd, the racist, the hateful or simply the woefully wrong information or misplaced emotional responses
We all have experienced some combination of all of the above described situations.
We all have thought of clever, reasonable, thoughtful and even humorous responses after the fact and wished we responded that way in the moment.
I present the following statements commonly experienced and I offer possible responses to each.
The Pandemic: It’s a hoax, fabricated and exaggerated by the liberal media and the democrats. Watch, it will disappear after the November election.
The Response: Let me give you the names and contact information for the families of those who have died from this and see if you can tell them to their face that the whole thing was contrived. So does that mean that their dead loved one had no meaning?
The Pandemic: Wearing the mask is uncomfortable and unnecessary.
The Response: You wear a seatbelt so you don’t fly thru the windshield in an accident. It may be a bit uncomfortable but you got used to it and you’re still alive. And if you still do not wear a seatbelt, you are a fool who has only yourself be blame when you are killed or maimed. Just like you are a fool to not wear a mask and practice social distancing and wash hands regularly.
Another Response: Our ancestors fought on the mountains of Korea and in the jungles of Vietnam and the Pacific Islands in World War II. Now that was uncomfortable. So maybe, just maybe you can muster the strength and fortitude to tough it out and wear a mask, wash your hands more frequently and maintain a safe social distance.
The Pandemic : It’s my right to decide whether I need to wear a mask. It’s government over-reach to require it.
The Response: It’s also my right to remain healthy because you wear a mask. It’ my right as a taxpayer to not foot the hospital bill and pay for you when you go on a ventilator. So how about wearing a “Do Not Resuscitate” bracelet so when you come down with Covid-19, I do not have to pay for your right to refrain from wearing a mask?
All News Is Fake: I don’t trust any news sources. They all lie and have an agenda.
The Response: Ok, well I do not have a really good response for this.
What comes to mind is a question/answer series that could go like this…..
- Did the sun come up this morning…yes or no?
- Answer…yes
- OK, so on this much we agree upon.
- Are you currently breathing and still alive.
- Answer…yes
- Ok, so on this much we agree upon.
- Beyond the sun rising this morning and you breathing right now, is there anything else that’s happening now or happened prior to this moment that you believe to be true?
- Answer, sure lots of stuff.
- How did you come to believe this stuff?
- Answer: I saw it for my own eyes or I just believed it to be true.
- OK, so we agree that anything that you see or experience first hand is true.
- Answer, yes.
- So what would it take for you to believe to be true anything that came before this moment in time? Would I have to take you to view the bodies of mass shooting victims? Would I have to bring you to the scene of every incident of police brutality committed in real time? Would I have to bring you to the emergency room to watch a Covid-19 victim breath their last breath. How about at trip to the arctic to watch a polar bear die of starvation because the habitat is disappearing because of global warming?
- Might I suggest that if you chose to trust nothing and trust nobody, you should resign yourself to stop thinking and just focus on eating and sleeping and wait for this miserable life to end.
All politicians are corrupt, you can’t trust any of them
The Response Ok, so if you “tune out and give up”, who do you think is going to step into that void. Answer, the very politicians you accuse of being corrupt. Somebody is going to rule you if you give up on the process. So why not at least have a say in who rules you.
All good conversations must come to an end, thankfully the above described encounters. Let me suggest how such conversations might end…..
Hey, look at the time, I’m going to miss my flight on the space ship back to the mother planet, take care and good luck with everything.
Dunn Writes Well 