My brain has been attacked by a fringe nut zombie

[Cyrano]

Today, I went to a new barber, and it’s going to take me a week to calm down.

I sat in the chair, the TV was on, and pundits were discussing the proposed Mosque near ground zero. The barber asked me what I thought about it and I said that I saw nothing wrong with it. He then launched off into a hate filled tirade which basically called for the death of every Muslim on the face of the earth.

I knew in advance that I was wasting my time, but I used all the sane arguments including: separation of church and state; there are millions and millions of Muslims and most of them had nothing whatever to do with 9/11; and finally, that what he was proposing was called genocide.

This man went on to add that Obama was one of them and his goal was to destroy America. It was obvious that some combination of Fox News, Limbaugh, and the teabaggers had rotted any semblance of a brain he may have had. The man was a total zombie who had lost his humanity and his soul.

This was a very scary person and there are far, far too many like him. We thought that eight years of Bush was as bad as it could get, but imagine if people like this barber ever seized power in this country. Welcome to the new “dark ages.”

It’s not yet noon here, but I’m working on my second beer in an attempt to lower my blood pressure.

[theoldman]

1. Never, never argue with your barber.

He can give you a bad haircut. I stay away from nut cases like him.

[Cyrano]

3. As I said, it was a new barber. I think he's a Hannibal Lector wannabe.

[steve2470]

4. Agreed

If I had been the barber, I would not have asked you. I'm there to perform a service and not conduct political discussions, which could easily go south and lose me a customer.

[izquierdista]

2. I would have walked out

Remember, the customer is always right.

[lpbk2713]

5. I wouldn't have tipped him.

Not after having endured his line of bullshit.

Maybe he would have gotten the point.

And I would have said something to the shop owner as well.

[Warpy]

6. Beer won't work that way, but it might numb you out

It's always a mistake to try to engage those people and you know that, that's the real reason you're upset--you feel like he managed to drag you down to his level. Just learn from it and be well.

I doubt you'll ever go back to that guy, either, you'll go hippie and tie it back with a piece of string before that happens. He's lost a good customer and I imagine he loses a lot of good customers and the loss of business adds to his fear and makes him even crazier.

He is crazy, you know, and there is nothing you can do to fix it. All you can do if you're stuck in a chair getting a haircut is let him blather until he's done and then say something like "I can't believe you bought all that horseshit!" and walk away chuckling after you've paid the bill. Logic won't penetrate the bubble. Laughter will. Enough laughter won't make them go sane, but it will shut them up in public and create a more civil atmosphere.

Remember, fools who can be led around by demagogues have always been with us, and religious demagogues are the most successful at leading them. Pogroms have been called against Catholics, Jews, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and every other minority religious group to reach our shores once the WASPs became entrenched. Every one has failed under the constitution.

So finish that beer in your hand and move on. Smell a flower, do something productive to use up all the adrenalin fueled energy. Remember, his nuttiness only extends to the surface of his miserable skin and you have a choice about whether you let any of it affect you in the future.

And laugh.

[Cyrano]

7. Thanks, Warpy. That's good advice.

Of course I knew I'd never get through to this creature, but there's always the compulsion to try. Nonetheless, I really resent having to share the planet with this type of pure evil.

[Warpy]

8. He's not evil, he's just scared and stupid.

That combination has allowed a bunch of slick corporate admen to sell him a completely insane bill of goods about how the world works.

Pity him. You'd rather see him than be him, right?

[Obamanaut]

9. Many studies suggest that alcohol only temporarily lowers blood

pressure, and it rebounds back to previous or even higher levels.

Doing this over a period of time can lead to blood pressure that is consistently higher than 'normal'.

[a la izquierda]

10. I was at the salon...

having an innocent and decidedly NOT political conversation with the stylist, who had come very highly recommended by some good friends. Anyhoo, she asks me, out of the blue, what I think of President Obama. I said that I was disappointed with some of his choices, but hell, he had a rough time and was left in a bad position. I made it clear that I was a Democrat.
Her face sort of oddly contorted and she said, verbatim, "I fucking HATE Obama!" She had a very sharp pair of scissors in her hand.

She finished up, I gave her a dollar tip (on a $45 haircut, I actually think that's more poignant than NOT tipping) and walked out. Never went back to that salon again. The haircut sucked anyway.

[Sta au]

11. I think I have that beat.

It's now livable on mars and Obama is planning to blow up the earth as part of the plan on 2012. Reagan started the entire thing so rich people can live there. Also all of our presidents are part alien lizard men that live under the earth. Along with all the rich political figures.

[david13]

12. Hey this is supposed to be secret information that you are not

supposed to reveal. My barber informed me about this.
You better not reveal what skank from Alaska is the only one with the power to stop this.
dc

[NJmaverick]

13. Those fringe nut zombies sure hate President Obama

[Goldstein1984]

14. Next time, have your hair cut by a stylist.

[Hawkowl]

15. Hitler was voted into office

I always try to remember this when running across way too many of my fellow citizens spewing ignorant hatred. Good for you in trying to speak reason, but I think it is very much a lost cause in most cases.

Studies have been done that estimate about 30-35% of our electorate have these hard core, hate spewing, right wing views. I belive these people to be unchangeable, and thus very dangerous.

[surrealAmerican]

16. Have you considered cutting your own hair?

It's not as difficult as you may think, given a decent pair of clippers.

[RandomThoughts]

17. Glad you have a beer.

It is possible to break through to those people, but you have to get by the things that guard their thoughts.

Basically it is waking them up. It takes hours sometimes, but you have to walk them down the thoughts that the mind should have when those topics come up. Basic thoughts even feelings like caring and love.

Eventually you get to the point where they have to admit they don't care, or don't want to care, or are hurting and want to hurt others. Then they have to decide if they like being like that.

Although the whole time you do it, anger will usually appear to keep them from hearing what you say, or thinking about anything. And every time anger shows up it helps to be kind till it is gone, then start over again. And they many times get head aches and even confusion during those times.

They also may not even be able to hear what you are saying, sometimes the scripts in there mind run louder then what they read or hear, so they don't take in anything you say.

It can take a long time. Or that is how I have seen it. Really takes a long time, sometimes if you can get one thought into there mind, that can be a seed for when they start to think on the topics. Simple things like you said might help him think on the topics someday when he breaks out.


Not saying that is true with everyone, some just have smaller empathy circles and know that. They will usually end up the argument that they have to take care of their smaller empathy circle first, although you can still explain that much anger does not help in that action either.