Saturday, July 19, 2008

Where I live

When we moved here, 10 years ago, because of retirement, we were ready for a change. Boy did we get a change. Part of it was great, part has been weird. When we moved to Murrieta, we left a very liberal city, Long Beach. I was born there, and Bob lived there since he was in Jr. High. Long Beach is so liberal it has the 2nd largest gay and lesbian population in the U.S., more than S.F. , but less than NYC.

I'm pretty liberal, and Bob's pretty conservative; as I’ve stated previously, we have a mixed marriage. Oh, he's in the right spot when it comes to really important things, like women's rights; after all, he has me and two fiery daughters; and discrimination.

One of the first sights we beheld was anti-abortion marchers. They were marching in front of the neighborhood Carl’s Jr., that bastion of conservative philanthropy. (It's been 30 years since I've eaten at Carl's Jr.) In addition to marching back and forth, they were carrying graphic signs and wearing ketchup soaked clothing; very gruesome appearing, but handy if you get fries with your order. I turned to Bob and said, “Oh, we may have made a mistake.” I’m all for freedom of speech, but this made me very uncomfortable. I’ve marched for the other side, and had similarly attired spectators shout nasty things at me.

So, fast forward, 10 years, moving to Murrieta has been great for both of us. It truly is a great community, and Bob and I have made many wonderful friends. Our lives are full, retirement really isn’t for sissies. Yesterday, when I was driving home from work, I noticed this truck in front of me.




They're still out there. They're the same people who come into the bookstore and turn every book by a liberal author over, so the cover doesn't show; or they accuse the staff or hiding conservative titles. They place Christian Inspiration books in the Gay and Lesbian Cultural Studies section, and in the New Age section. They attempt "conversions" in the aisles. True. They just don't get it. We're in business to sell books. We don't care which books, but the more books we sell, the longer we can stay in business, the more payroll budget we have to keep everyone employed. People are amazing.

7 comments:

Beckie said...

Oooo, I love this post!

How annoying to have that happen in the book store. I say live and let live and quit with the double standard to all of those people turning over books and using other shenanigans.

Vered said...

People ARE amazing.

Live and let live... I have no idea why it so hard for some people to do that. It seems to me like the simplest, easiest choice.

Mrs. G. said...

If someone lobbied me in a bookstore, I would be highly annoyed. I have a librarian friend who told me that many patrons steal books on witch craft and paganism in order to save souls.

Unknown said...

I always thought SF was the hugest population of gays. I didn't know.

Cute bumper sticker.

I'm afraid some people do go a little overboard trying to push their beliefs down people's throats, so while I had no idea that went on at the bookstore I'm really not surprised.

Pamela said...

you get granola at both ends of the political spectrum.

Alison said...

people are amazing and their ignorance completely blows my mind at times. What gets my gall the most is when "christians" preach against the sins of homosexuality, abortion, etc. and they have forgotten the "love thy neighbor as yourself" concept. I just don't get it!!! I think liberal people are just happier people, we live and let live and don't stress over things we have no control over.

Great post!!

klasieprof said...

OMG. I can SOO imagine the hard core fundy's Going to the bookstore to do God's work by flipping books over, then..."Sharing" about it on Weds. night bible study....Not Criticizing...just well...sayin.

and OMG mrs. g...STEALING books so they were not available...now THAT God must just be so ..well...shakin his head at. WTF?
I'm on the flip side right now tho taking some classes for a certificate where EVERYONE in admin is alternative life style so EVERY recommended website has a rainbow connection...again..just sayin.

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