The night after the 2008 elections I lost someone that I thought was a friend, or at least as close to a friend as I had come since I moved to the Florida Panhandle in 2005. Her tirade the night after the election made it impossible for me to socialize with her outside of work anymore. I wrote about that night in a diary here.
Follow me below the fold for a story that proves people can change and that there is hope for our friends and family that have fallen in thrall with Fox News.
First, let me suggest you read my diary from that night so you have an understanding of just how bad the situation was at that time. And then join me back here to read about what happened last night at work.
Our relationship has been cool since the elections in 2008. I've never forgave her for that night, but as a bartender I still have to be civil. We still cheer on the Hurricanes together on Saturday afternoons and she still brings me team gear to wear for the games but we don't socialize outside of work anymore. I don't stay and have a drink with her when I get off because I just don't want to hear the vitriol that comes after a couple of cocktails. And it always comes.
I'd noticed that she was acting more pleasant the past few months and we all had remarked on it at the bar but we weren't sure what had prompted the change. Last night she apologized to me for her behavior over the past couple years and explained how she became so angry and hateful.
You see, her long term boyfriend is a Fox News addict. She told me last night that he has it on both TVs in the house at all times that he is home. She became an addict too. I had caught hints lately that she might be having some second thoughts and a change of heart but I was not prepared for her to open up and honestly spill her heart out to me.
She went on to say that she began to believe everything that was being said on Fox unquestioningly and how angry she became as a result. She said she no longer watches Fox and refuses to allow her boyfriend to have it on both TVs anymore. Usually she leaves and comes up to the bar until he's getting ready to go to bed to avoid being subjected to it any longer. I'm pretty certain the relationship is getting rocky as a result but I didn't pry too hard, fearful she'd lose her courage.
She had tears in her eyes when she told me how very sorry she was for being so awful towards me. We discussed the recent violence and the over the top rhetoric that is being spewed. She had seen the "Liberal Hunting License" and was appalled by it. She vowed that she would take the time to research things herself from now on and that she had been working hard at it for awhile now. I'm proud of her. I'm not sure we're going to be BFF's anytime soon but I might stay and have a drink with her after work tomorrow night.
As some have pointed out, anecdotes are not statistics. I realize this is just one woman but, this means it is not impossible to break the trance that is Fox News. For those of us who have friends and loved ones that are under their influence, this gives us hope. For those of us that suspected it was indeed brainwashing, we have proof. She even admitted she felt brainwashed. Keep hope alive, it's all we've got at this point folks.