this 100%. I have spent probably like 5 hours drafting a paragraph in my original comment only to realize that Im just sick and tired of it all. My friends are affected by these policies. I have had some negative experience with these maga followers ( had a boss 5 years ago who was maga, same with their kid) and recently, I had a roommate “flip” over the last year and pretended that they never supported it (even though I still have some nasty texts from them).
I used to really try to meet people in the middle and legit a month ago still believed that second chances (the more the better) should be a thing but honestly… it’s getting to the point where a lot of it feels fake. Even if it’s genuine, the damage has already been done and is still going. When MTG started distancing herself from MAGA, I genuinely supported it. Even at this moment I think she is sincere but it is just too late.
Have you guys even tried to have a conversation with these people? Not a debate but a genuine attempt in making a connection? Sometimes the connection does get made and good conversations happen… but other times it just goes straight into some form of hatred with a smile on their face.
In the end, if you think that someone does genuinely regret their decision and/or vote, then good for them but the damage is already done and somethings cannot be recovered. People do learn from mistakes but the mistakes are costing all of us. Deep down I still want to help people out but I can’t pretend that the people who wanted to hurt my friends and community will magically stop just because they said a specific sequence of words.
:/ mb. I spent a few hours (basically all night x.x I still haven’t slept) typing a bunch of stuff then like gave up and went to try to sleep. A part of me still wants to connect and build those bridges but imo I feel that we already gave out a lot of second chances ( third, fourth, fifth, etc). Some of those stories or emotions of regret might be real but having to constantly rebuild those bridges almost feels like we are talking to a wall.