LESA LIGHT: Show kindness to strangers

A couple of weeks ago, I was nice to a Trump supporter.

I didn’t know she was a Trumper because she was a well-educated, well-spoken woman. She was a retired speech-language therapist and a teacher of special needs kids in the public school system in Illinois.

She was also my brother-in-law’s girlfriend. I had never met her, and she didn’t have a sign on her head that said, “I’m with T.” And since my brother-in-law was not a Trumper, I just assumed she was ‘one of us.’ It was, apparently, a ‘mixed marriage.’

But, as we Nova Scotians like to show off our neck of the province, I acted as her tour guide one afternoon. We visited my favourite craft store in Maitland, Beyond the Wharf, where she bought several crafts and gifts and signed the come-from-away board.

I took her to see our piece of property in Urbania. Then we stopped at the interpretive centre by the Gosse Bridge, where we read all of the poster boards about tides, shore life, geology, and even the Saxby Gale. We drove through Old Barns and Beaver Brook, as I explained the history of the area.

When we caught up with the men, we went to supper and then went to see the Tidal Bore, which was an actual bore, as there wasn’t even a ripple. Many people were standing around with cameras to get a video of the event, but it was a bust that day. I had to find a video on Facebook to show them what it was supposed to look like.

She and I talked crafts and décor. We had a lovely time. She even left me a novel that she’s finished Whistler by Ann Patchett, who is one of my favourite authors.

So how was I supposed to know that this nice lady was a Trumper? My husband wouldn’t let me talk politics when they were visiting. I had asked about the political situation in their state when we were sitting around after supper one night.

“No, no,” he said. “We’re not getting into that.”

He was adamant. So, I kept quiet about it, and we talked about family, friends, and crafts.

After they’d gone back to the United States, my husband casually mentioned that my new friend was a “huge Trump supporter.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked. “Would you have treated her differently?” he said. “I suppose not.” We Canadians are known to be nice to strangers of any variety.

But I hope she got a new perspective on Canada, and when he-who-shall-not-be-named disparages our country, then maybe this one person will know that it isn’t true and she can tell her friends that it isn’t true, and maybe that’s how the ball gets rolling. Because the more supporters we have in that country, especially of the Republican variety, maybe we can have a little bit of hope that things will settle down in the future. Fingers and toes crossed.

Retired registered nurse Lesa Light explores the art of aging and living well while sharing a few laughs about life along the way.