To the man who will never see this blog post

Last weekend, my friend and I met a man at a bar. The conversation started out fun. He talked about his work. He was proud of it. 

The work he does requires him to do hard things – namely firing people. Which he described as helping people exit what doesn’t work so they can find something better. 

I could definitely get behind that. I also believe that when we learn something isn’t meant for us, it aligns us with what is. 

I asked him how it made him feel. He glitched for a second, then responded with something written by his company’s public relations team. 

So I asked again. He glitched again, but this time pieced together some words that felt appropriate given the circumstances. 

We talked a bit more. Shared some laughs. All was going well, until my friend asked him about Minneapolis. 

The change in his demeanor was instant. He started spouting soundbites. He drew some hasty generalizations. And when we responded with genuine concern, questions, and data –  he got mad. 

Like, real mad. And he left in a really big huff. 

I thought of him today. I wonder if he watched the same videos I watched. I wonder if he saw agents “attacked” by a man brandishing a gun. Or, if he saw what I saw –  a civilian ICU nurse attacked and murdered by ICE agents on the streets of a beautiful midwest city. 

I will never understand how two people can watch the same video and come to two opposing conclusions. Except that the power of propaganda is incredible. And the power of beliefs can be terrifying.

My guess is that we’ll never see this man again. 

But if he were to ever see this blog post, we’d bet good money that his words would be: 

Fucking bitch.