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In reply to the discussion: I have a friend i've known for over 40 years and i keep evading his phone calls [View all]LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(13,086 posts)Every minute arguing with a person who is proud of his ignorance is a minute that could be spent doing something that makes you feel happy or fulfilled or appreciated. Even watching "Wizard of Oz" for the eleventeenth time is more productive than wasting a minute trying to reason with someone who believes in "alternate facts."
"Never wrestle with a pig because you'll both get dirty and the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw
When I first met my sister-in-law I discovered she had "political Tourette's." We would be having a nice conversation and all of a sudden she would go off on "goddam tree-huggers," Obama, etc. The first time she did it I ignored her, but the second time I said, "I would like to have a good relationship with you for my wife's sake, but I want you to know I will never argue politics. Just know that my political views on nearly everything are 180 degrees from yours. Do not interpret my silence as agreement. There are so many worthwhile topics we can discuss, but if you insist on bringing politics into every conversation I will not visit you again. Your sister can make her own decision."
She quickly learned that any political statement she made was met with silence from my wife and me. After a while she stopped doing it, and we have had a good relationship.
BTW, I learned the "withdraw attention" technique at Seaworld. Whenever the Orcas (killer whales) would start acting up all of the trainers would just walk off the stage. After a minute or so the whales would realize that they had misbehaved and they stopped. Only then would the trainers return and resume the show.
Surprisingly, the same technique worked with the middle school students when I was substitute teaching.
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