My odd experience in Charleston WV yesterday

[tavernier]

where my daughter and I were visiting the Capitol building. She teaches the RN NCLEX at universities around the country and I often travel with her if I’ve never been a certain town or state.

We were picked up by the shuttle where they transport visitors to a parking lot several blocks away. It was full of local ladies also visiting the Capitol grounds. The driver, a very sweet friendly lady, said that she had to hurry and get out of there early today because the protesters were coming and she was afraid that she would blow up and give them a piece of her mind. She said she wished that they would just “leave our babies alone”. It suddenly got very quiet and no one in the bus responded to her at all. Then someone asked about a lunch recommendation place and everyone was talking again.

I later asked my daughter, who was sitting next to the driver, what kind of protest she was referring to thinking that perhaps they were protesting guns, since she had mentioned leaving their children alone, but my daughter said that it was an abortion protest.

It was rather odd that the minute the driver made her statement everyone on the bus got so quiet and no one responded to her.

Obviously it’s a very red area… every other building is a church, and there are burn in hell billboards scattered around the sides of the roads. But I guess even the local women on the bus weren’t jumping on her bandwagon.

And why would she say the protesters need to leave “our babies” alone? That was a strange, rather possessive remark. I don’t know how another woman’s choice threatens her babies.

[Walleye]

1. Because all Democrats drink the blood of infants

[librechik]

10. THIS

[malaise]

27. See here's the problem

If people are brainwashed into believing all kinds of crap about the blood of Jesus, drinking babies blood seems quite plausible.
It's why I want nothing to do with any religion and their unscientific mumbo jumbo. .

[Walleye]

29. I'm with you 100% on that. As they say, I would like to associate myself with those remarks

[eppur_se_muova]

2. All babies belong to the Christians, doncha know. nt

[leftieNanner]

11. Actually, they don't care about the "babies"

Just the fetus.

Once they're born? Meh.

[Martin Eden]

14. True that.

They don't care about "babies" that can breathe air.

[A HERETIC I AM]

17. "If you're pre-born, you're fine. If you're preschool, you're fucked!" - George Carlin

The above quote is at the 1:25 mark;

[leftieNanner]

18. George Carlin was brilliant

And prescient as well.

So many of the things he said are very true today.

Thanks for sharing this clip.

[malaise]

28. An absolute genius

who exposed all their bullshit over and over

[DFW]

30. He used to present himself as a comedian, but in reality

George Carlin was one the most brilliant philosophers/social commentators of the last century.

[A HERETIC I AM]

31. Our generation's Will Rogers.

[DFW]

32. That's probably as good asn analogy as any.

Carlin had an insight so sharp, it could have split a mosquito's wing sideways.

[allegorical oracle]

33. What a sage-- that's the Gawd's truth. Just last week in my area, two couples were arrested

for abusing their children; another two toddlers died by drowning in retention ponds (separately on two different days). And every single summer, babies are left to swelter to death in their car seats. It's so sad, but the pro-abortion people seem to ignore that children need attention AFTER they're born, too.

[Squeaky41]

3. WV Event

There was a protest against new anti-trans law. Head-On Robyn Was there

[Hortensis]

6. Yes. Not sure from the description what side this driver was on.

Could even be just that of "our babies" and their parents and others who love them. Most decent people are of course appalled by politicization of these issues.

The bill would outlaw gender affirming surgery and hormone therapy to minors. It wouldn't outlaw counseling and so on.

AP: It provides exceptions for individuals born with a “medically verifiable disorder” including people with “external biological sex characteristics that are irresolvably ambiguous” and for people taking treatments for infection, injury, disease, or disorder that has been “caused by or exacerbated by the performance of gender transition procedures.”

People can also access the treatment if they are in “imminent danger of death, or impairment of a major bodily function unless surgery is performed.”

I just looked and the legal age is apparently 18. Sacrificing children's best interests to political pandering is bad, of course. The federal government and most leading healthcare groups support the importance of access to gender-affirming care for children. BUT, at least this law does allow many corrective surgeries children can need. It could be worse. Until it can be repealed.

“The AMA opposes the dangerous intrusion of government into the practice of medicine and the criminalization of health care decision-making. Gender-affirming care is medically necessary, evidence-based care that improves the physical and mental health of transgender and gender-diverse people. ... it will “continue to work to ensure transgender and gender-diverse minors have the opportunity to explore their gender identity under the safe and supportive care of a physician.”

[róisín_dubh]

4. West Virginia is literally the worst place I've ever lived...

and I lived in Ohio and Oklahoma (love OK to be fair, but I despised OH).
It's an isolated, insular place where outsiders are most certainly not welcome (I don't care WHAT Anthony Bourdain said, and I loved that guy). If you weren't born there, you'll never be "from" there, no matter how long you live there or what you do for the state. In WV, like OH, people were friendly enough, but not genuine or kind.
I lived there 9 years and it was never home to me. I miss my friends- nearly all transplants because of the nature of our work- but the sooner I never have to set foot in that god forsaken, backwards hell-hole, the better.
And I lived in a pale blue dot in the state, famous for it's party school university.

All that's to say I'm not shocked by your story. Sorry for the ran

[tavernier]

5. The people have been really nice.

And most of those have been from elsewhere. 😂

[róisín_dubh]

22. Proving my point!

[Boomerproud]

8. They always complain that they're stereotyped.

Then quit acting like it.

[róisín_dubh]

23. Exactly.

When I first moved there what boggled the mind was the number of Confederate flags and places named after Stonewall Jackson.
Umm, pick up a history book please (though I realise Confederate flags are everywhere, they seemed particularly ironic in WV).

[lindysalsagal]

9. I think you've just explains Joe Manchin. Nasty, just for nasty's sake.

[róisín_dubh]

24. Indeed nt

[Katcat]

15. I'm so sorry!

I apologize for my home state. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of good people here who will help you all they can but I think they’re getting fewer and further between. Unfortunately, there are 2 churches on every corner preaching HATE.

[róisín_dubh]

25. Ahh you're alright.

There are plenty of lovely people there and it is a really gorgeous place. But it's also stuck in some weird time/culture warp.

[liberal_mama]

7. Every time I hear about WV, I think about that documentary, The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West

Virginia. That was one of the craziest things I've ever seen. I made all of my kids watch it as I considered it an important anthropology learning lesson. Margaret Mead should have studied this family.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wild_and_Wonderful_Whites_of_West_Virginia

[Warpy]

12. "Possessive?" Try "presumptuous."

She was probably a church lady, raised in one of the little Evangelical churches and never broke free. Some people never shake off the propaganda of their childhoods.

The best sign was that wary silence in the shuttle. It spoke very loudly, "uh-oh, wingnut, do not engage." That's a great sign.

I just wonder how many people on that bus were going to protest against antiabortion laws written by clueless men.

[jaxexpat]

13. That was my take on the suddenly silent bus.

People simultaneously realized there was a zealot of some kind behind the wheel. Plus, some were just trying to fathom what such an ambiguous statement actually meant.

[tavernier]

16. The wary silence, as you say,

spoke very loudly indeed. Seconds later someone brought up lunch and then there was a chorus of perhaps relieved voices.

[maxsolomon]

19. Pretty clear she means supporters of trans rights.

We're all Groomers convincing babies to chop their dicks off, you know. ( )

You should let the shuttle company know you didn't appreciate it.

[tavernier]

20. I agree

In retrospect that makes perfect sense.

[FSogol]

21. When it got quiet, you should have shouted, "Jesus, take the wheel!"

and then hold on for dear life!

[róisín_dubh]

26. ...