Signs of the Times

For the first time in my life, I live in a community that leans Republican. We moved here because of the natural beauty, its relative proximity to New York City and to enjoy a lovely home and property that would have been unaffordable in another New York metro county. As a life-long Democrat, I can't help but feel a bit out of place here. About a month back, my partner and I were driving to one of the only decent restaurants in town when we saw a huge Trump/Vance booth with banners and MAGA paraphenalia. That was the end of my appetite.

After seeing the display, I was determined to represent. When we arrived home, my partner and I ordered two Harris/ Walz signs from the campaign. Soon after, my neighbors across the street put up their own Trump /Vance decorations. Every time I drove past their home, I felt sick. Meanwhile, our signs had not arrived and we were growing impatient. So, we went to Amazon and ordered two more. Those arrived in a couple of days and we happily put them up on our property. Several days later, one of the signs was gone. Enraged, my partner ordered five more signs which arrived promptly. Shortly thereafter, our official campaign signs finally arrived. He and I went outside and happily placed the seven signs up and down our property line. On the way back, we ran into our Trump supporting neighbor, who chuckled under his breath but loud enoughfor us to hear him. I greeted him in a friendly tone. "How are you doing," I asked. "Better than you two obviously," he said. We kept walking.

Several days later after some other neighbors put up a tremendous Trump/Vance display complete with flags, banners, balloons and more, five of our new signs were gone. When another sign disappeared soon after, I called the police, since stealing political signs is against the law. A police officer came to our home and took a report. I knew this would do no good, but I was too disturbed to stand by and do nothing. I pointed out to the officer that all of the neighbors' signs (Trump signs) were left undisturbed while ours were stolen. He quickly told me he wasn't going to get involved in politics. He was right, of course, but it was clear he was a Trump supporter.

After the policeman left, I was surprised by how angry I was. After a while I realized why. I felt bullied and disrespected by the sign thieves. And I was reminded of the bullies that lived across the street from me when I was a young girl. I remembered how one of them threw a rock through our front window when I was hosting a party. It was frightening and shocking and guests could have been harmed as the rock cracked the glass. It was scary to leave the house, because the neighbor boys and their friends were always outside ready to call me names, and make rude gestures. The neighbors who stole our signs, also left me feeling threatened and violated.

On Donald Trump's watch, bullying has become not just tolerated, but encouraged. My sign thieves have taken their cues from him. If he is elected, his supporters will have carte blanch to treat anyone who is different than them with contempt and disrespect. Their bullying behavior will go way beyond stolen signs. It's a fate too painful to contemplate.