Thoughts on "The Trump House"

November 15, 2016

Thoughts on "The Trump House"

So, we had an interesting situation next door from May-November this year, turns out our neighbors are way into Donald Trump. At the time we thought they had a minority opinion, but it turns out they were on to something.

What I posted on Facebook:

Finally took a selfie from our front porch of the "Trump House" next door. Here's to hoping the signs will come down quick!

For those of you following our neighborhood saga - yes, the house next door is still free speech gone wild. Mostly it's been lots of honking drivers, drive-by swearing, and people stopping traffic to take photos every time we look out the window.

There have also been protests, TV stories, biker BBQs in the front yard, the owner dressing like Hillary in a prison costume while mowing the grass, plus a creepy anti-Trump guy who holds signs at traffic on Sunday afternoons while parked in front of our house..the list goes on....

It has been distracting and sometimes scary, and I have been the mean neighbor yelling at people to get off my grass on more than one occasion.

The last 4+ months of living in the Trump zone has not brought out the best in Matt or me all the time, but I promise we handled it better than you would think. It's been an annoyance in the scheme of life and I'm thankful to live in a place where we have free speech, the right to vote, and the right to make crazy yard signs if you see fit - just hope this is a one-time display.

How the "Trump house" affected us isn't about the election, but about social media, decency, and how it's "funny" to honk and take pictures of someone else's house, but not so much when it's next door. Matt and I have talked about it more than I wish with friends, family, and anyone who happens to ask. Needless to say, it was a temporary inconvenience, but upsetting enough to give us real empathy for people who live in unstable environments around the world. Luckily we were never in any danger, but having people stop to take pictures while standing in our yard and hearing honking/cussing/etc. at all hours of the day got old quick.

Besides the anti-Trump guy in costume and front yard rallies, the only other actual upsetting thing was from a reporter...

Matt was home and saw a woman with a fancy camera zoomed straight into our living room. When he went outside to see who she was, why she was doing that, etc. without introducing herself as press she asked "What's it like living next to these people? Pretty awful right?" - Matt didn't take the bait and asked her not to take pictures of our house. He had a feeling she was a reporter due to her appearance and equipment, but her behavior and demeanor was unprofessional and gives you a feel for why people dislike the press. Here's her story [Meredith Yoemans - not impressed).

Whatever! I'm writing this to reflect back on someday, I'm sure I'll feel differently as time passes. At the end of the day, Kim has the right to free speech and we're really not mad that she took her signs to such an unbelievable level. It was extremely annoying and a few plates of cookies and/or some form of acknowledgment that the whole area was affected by her display would be much appreciated - but I'm not holding my breath for that to ever happen. Mostly we just hope this whole thing doesn't happen again.