A few words for my friends of both columns.

To my left-leaning friends:

Yeah, I suppose some bad people are going to use this as license to try to shout a lot. Bad and stupid people are going to be bad and stupid people, whatever happens. But this is going to get overhyped. And it’s going to feel like it’s happening everywhere when it’s just a few. Some people are going to gloat over this. That’s immature.


There were a whole lot of people who you said didn’t matter, weren’t worth listening to, and they felt they had nowhere to turn. So much of the debate style here was to label and dismiss. This is the result.


Do you want to be the losers next time? You can live up to that image of the more mature party. You can know what those others were feeling beyond labels of bigotry and hatred. Make that effort now, and you can thrive the next few years.

To my right-leaning friends:

I’m reminded of one of the earliest stories we ever told ourselves. Odysseus tricks Polyphemus the cyclops and gets away, but just before Odysseus is out of earshot he calls out and gloats that he tricked him. But Polyphemus is a son of Poseidon, who controls the seas, and Odysseus doesn’t get home for another ten years. The moral of the story? Never gloat.

Maybe you felt no one listened, and when they did they were quick to condemn, and why engage with someone who labels you and dismisses you? Yet it was still your job to speak up. What’ll be the result?

Do you want to be the losers next time? You can live up to that image of the spirit-filled party. You can know what these others are feeling beyond the labels being shouted at each other. Make this effort now, and you won’t wind up the losers in the next few years.

"David"

Today, a boring one. "Can I ask you something? Do you think it is okay to steal?" he tried to keep to the script as I tried to knock him off it.

"Sir, I don't know what you mean. I am from Windows technical support. As you go about your day checking email and such things--"

"Do you sleep well at night?"

"I don't know what you mean, sir. Your computer has informed us that--"

"Next you will ask me to download software and if I do, it will lock up my computer and you will demand money to unlock it. I've gotten many calls like this and all of them are attempts to steal from me. I read all about you on the internet. Everyone has."

"I don't know what you mean, sir. Viruses have infected your computer--"

"Everyone knows this is a scam. The only people you manage to fool are those with minds like children. Does that make you feel good?"

I don't think he heard that last bit.

I got a call some weeks ago from an Indian accented guy saying my "vindows has viruses."

I'd gotten this sort of call a few times in the past. The first time I got the call, I just hung up, then web searched 'windows tech support scam,' and obviously, that was him.

The next time I got this call I yelled at the guy and said he was stealing and he would pay for what he was doing. The next time I pleaded.

This time I told him, "Look, you don't have to have a job where you're stealing. Whatever they told you, your English is good enough you can get a decent job that's honest and you don't have to steal anymore."

Perhaps because of some rule of politeness where I could talk until I was done, he let me go on and on and on in the same vein until he finally broke down and said "Yes. it is a bad job. I know what they will do to you if you download the code I am supposed to get you to download. it is a bad job and I will leave it."

I feel good about this, even if he never takes his own advice. For next time, I will research what someone in India can do in terms of free job search advice, so I can be ready with some real information.

This is the first time I feel like I might have had a chance of actually helping the situation. I do wish I could have been less angry and more, well, taking it in stride. Maybe next time. Based on the pattern it looks like there's going to be a lot of next times.

I'd like to hear from anyone else who's tried this sort of thing or played around with this situation.

Rob