Spent a few hours working in a room with a holy-roller Ronald Reagan swooner the other day. I knew I was in for it early on when I mentioned the upcoming election for our (Montana) congressional seat on May 25. Didn’t mention I was painting signs for Rob Quist, as I wasn’t sure of the company I was in yet. Figured it out real quick, though, when she said, “Oh yeah. Glad they got Zinke out of there.” Again, I held my tongue and waited for the punch line that would tell me what I needed to know. “He was such a RINO.” I knew I was in for a long day.
I held my tongue when she snarled about Obamacare. Kept my mouth shut through the anti-immigrant tirade. Minded my own business as the glory of the wealth the Lord has bestowed upon her was sung. But I just couldn’t help myself when she bragged about the bumper sticker she had that said, “My boss is a Jewish carpenter.”
I asked, all innocent-like, “Oh, did you work for Bernie Sanders?”
I’ll let you just picture the confused and disapproving frown I received during the stunned, awkward silence. “Yeah, he’s Jewish,” I added helpfully. And in answer to her half-hearted question, “Yeah, he was a carpenter for a while.”
“I meant Jesus,” she said, with the harshest, most disgusted head-turnaway she could muster.
“Oh, well, I bet there are lots of Jewish carpenters who followed in His footsteps.”
It was a lovely day.