A Kerry-Edwards shirt and a trip to a post office in N Richland Hills,TX

So I go into this post office in repuke country with a Kerry shirt on and I have an interesting story....

First one woman when I walk in who works there is totally cordial(African American), very nice...I have to go into the actual post office area because there machine only dispenses for debit/credit and all I have is cash..


First thing, this old man is staring at my shirt, doesn't even see the line move, and so were several people in there.. So he leans over and says to me, " No one has attempted to take that shirt off ya yet?" I look at him and because he looks about 150, I say,"no sir." So He starts telling me about how signs are disappearing in his neighborhood, especially his neighbors.. He says," Well I presume they are teenagers stealing them." Yeah, right, like teenagers would want fucking political signs.. So I mention that it is probably Pete Sessions taking them, because he is well known for stealing opponents signs.. I get no response, dead silence from him..

So it is my turn..So I go up to the front and place the letter and stamps down and let the woman know I need a stamp for the letter and a booklet.. She takes 10 fucking minutes accomplishing this, and also distracts herself to help someone I presume came in earlier mail a next day package.. So she put a Mancini stamp on(for some reason she has to tell me when I look at it that you have to be dead for 10 years before you get a stamp?) and I thank her..I am hoping that my bill still gets to it's location.


So as I am walking out old guy stops me again.. He says," The last time we had a local city election the city workers were taking the signs of the democrats." I look at him and say," Well sir, it sounds to me like what they want around in these parts is a one party system." No response, I guess that was twice I made him go blank.. As I am walking out I say to him," Have a good day sir."

It's kinda creepy how he brought it up.

We have had our signs stolen repeatedly, and there was an article in the Star Telegram regarding the theft. My mom was featured in the article, and later the local news came over and interviewed her. We've been through 8 signs now. Our neighbors put their sign 12 feet up in a tree to prevent stealing, and several other neighbors signs have all been stolen.

None of the Bush signs are ever stolen.

These people scare me. And I live here. Have all my life. It's never been like this.

bu I will be damned if these fascist are going to make me stop supporting another candidate in public..Im sorry they don't like how a democracy works.Maybe they can head to China or N Korea? I hear there is absolutley no opposition in those countries..BTW what local channel talked to you?? I am guessing 11?

It showed my mom putting up her Kerry sign, and telling how she took it down every night and put it back up in the morning to prevent its theft. The irony is that she was a lifelong Texas Republican until they went after Clinton in the impeachment. That really turned her as she thought it was an abuse of power. She's never been the same since, thank God.

She's also very well known in the community as she taught second grade in the Birdville Independent School District for years, and is very active in the local Baptist Church. She's had people approach her in the grocery store and as she walks in the morning who recognize her from the story.

But the signs keep getting stolen.

Iwould have never expected them to cover this..Good for them!!

Coat your sign LIBERALLY with pepper spray. If itz gunna get stolen, ya may as well exact some revenge. :evilgrin:

It would really be a shame if someone who came to take away your sign happened to step in broken glass or found themselves remarkably affected by poison ivy, or something like that.

My personal preference would be an ultrathin speckling of phenol- it induces incredible burning pain on contact with skin and leaves a nice rash. But one of those motion detecting thingamajigs that turns on the lights is probably nicer- especially if it also activates a videocamera.

and believe me, when you wear that shirt, EVERYONE notices. i notice that i always get attention when i wear my kerry shirt. some of it is good, others bad. but attention is attention and that is exactly what i want. i want people to think about the message on my shirt. sometimes it takes just the first brave soul to do something before others follow suit.

i grew up in Carrollton and can imagine what it'd be like in N. Richland Hills.

Now I am quite comfortable living in the Heights in Houston...tons and tons of Kerry/Edwards signs, and I've never seen one go missing...only more added to nearby neighbors houses!

Now, on the other hand, I do get plenty of strange looks when I'm driving to and from work in the Uptown/Galleria area because of my K/E bumpersticker...thankfully I haven't had my car vandalized.

.. I didn't sense one ounce of attitude from either him or the lady at the counter. I don't mean to sound rude, but why look for attitude when there really isn't any?

Was attitude mentioned in my story?? All I did is relay what occurred , nowhere in my description can you point out where I said there was attitude.Sounds like you perceived from it that there was attitude coming from the individuals. Do I also think there was.. You bet! 10 minutes to get a book of stamps and put a stamp on an envelope??

The old man doesn't respond and goes blank when I throw comments that relate to a one party system, and also when I refer to Republican Pete Sessions past incidences of removing opponents signs as probably the culprit and not teens..Hell, I thought he was the sign stealer.. You also didn't see the stare he made when I walked in with the shirt..



BTW I did refer to one woman who worked there that was totally cordial to me when I walked in. Maybe you missed that part..It was like the first or second sentence..


Also, I have no anger about the incident.. I almost expect it in places like this so I prepare myself with catchy comebacks just in case some wiseguy starts up. This is what our political system is about.. I waved at a couple today that let me in on the highway even though they had a Bush Cheney sticker on their car.. I try to remember that even though my beliefs are probably alot different then theirs, the one thing that we all have in common is being Americans, and having the right to support whoever we want..

as a group in parades in very Republican areas of the county. We get LOUDLY BOOED from the sidelines. People scream "Bush Bush Bush!" and "four more years" and "get out of here!" and "this is BUSH country" and "Oh m'Gawd! Here come the dem-o-crats" (in a really sarcastic tone). The kids are vicious, too ... they scream at us, pumping their thumbs downward, till they're red in their little Hitler Youth faces.

The more they boo, the prouder a Democrat I am! Because there are a few Kerry fans in the crowd, and they jump up and yell and scream (bravely in front of their fascist neighbors) and yell, "Thank you for being here!" Letting them know they're not alone -- that they can come out of the shadows and proudly put those Democratic signs on their lawn -- makes all the abuse worthwhile!!!!!!!

The good old days...MY grandfather was a proud dem who was born in 190o in Corsicana.. Im not sure how far back before that my family goes in Texas, but he always voted dem because he knew that the country, and our state, typically did better with them.. It wasn't till the 70's and 80's when the Bush types started moving in that it started to change.. Seems now all there is are low wage jobs, and mexicans taking all of those jobs..Oh sure, you can find a decent job but they are becoming much harder to find.. I appreciate what you're doing, and maybe you can help straighten the state back up..Maybe when all these TX repukes get exposed for all the corrupt shit there pulling the state will swing back..