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Post by elaine on Sept 30, 2021 2:21:10 GMT
I really can’t think of any. Everyone I know, even the conservatives, have been careful about social distancing, masking, and vaccinating. Now, discussing politics is another matter. There are a few I need to avoid that with.  This. I haven’t lost friends or family over COVID & vaccination/precautions, but I have over the 2020 election, Trump’s big lies, and 1/6/21. |
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Post by 950nancy on Sept 30, 2021 3:27:21 GMT
One of my very best friends is a Trump supporter. She watches Fox News a lot. We try very hard to find common ground where we can. We also often agree not to talk about politics as much as possible. I used to not say much, but when she told me there are two sides to every story, I said no, there are facts and then there are opinions. It is hard sometimes.
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Post by ghislaine on Sept 30, 2021 3:43:03 GMT
I had begun to distance myself from the person I once considered my closest friend when I found out that she'd believed enough misinformation about Hilary Clinton that she'd voted for Trump. I tried to give her a lot of grace at the beginning of the pandemic because it caused her quite a bit of financial distress which was exacerbated by some questionable decisions pre-pandemic. Between that and her anti-mask stance the friendship would never be close again and she unfriended me on Facebook about six months later. It turns out her anti-mask stance burned bridges with a whole bunch of people so we aren't sure who she's even hanging out with anymore, nevermind what her vaccine stance is.
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cycworker
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,409 
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Post by cycworker on Sept 30, 2021 5:42:40 GMT
One acquaintance. I don't remember if I blocked her or vice versa. She was talking about the microchips, Agenda 2030, the Plandemic... it got to be too much. I tried to have empathy for as long as possible, because she lost her husband during the pandemic (not Covid related) and couldn't see him. It just... didn't work, though, to stay in contact, given we were never that close. We had both been involved in the same non profit for a while.
I have a few other acquaintances like that who are very anti-vax, very big on conspiracies that I've muted.
There is one relationship with a good friend that hasn't died, but is shakier than it was in the past. Initially, I knew she wasn't getting the vaccine, and it was fine. She said she wasn't allowed to take it, because she was allergic. Then she admitted she just doesn't trust it. Which would have been fine. But then she started in on trying to tell me horror stories about how dangerous it is, and it felt like even though I did not ONCE try to change her mind re: not getting vaccinated, she was trying to persuade me to change my mind & not have it. Since then, things have been tense. We still talk, but things are off kilter. Part of it is she isn't supposed to be in my apartment building due to not being vaccinated, because given the ages of the folks here they are higher risk. That makes things doubly hard because I can't have her to craft nights. She says she understands, but she pretty clearly resents it.
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smginaz Suzy
Pearl Clutcher
Je suis desole.
Posts: 2,606
Jun 26, 2014 17:27:30 GMT
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Post by smginaz Suzy on Sept 30, 2021 8:08:24 GMT
None that I miss.
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Post by jeremysgirl on Sept 30, 2021 12:33:32 GMT
Acquaintances I don't really care about. Family has been hard for me. I'm having a tough time letting go. And I don't quite know why. It's not like they ever like any of my posts or anything. We pretty much have no contact anyway. So why do I find it so hard to let them go? I dunno.
I'm going to a memorial next week for a cousin that has died. A cousin I have nothing but fond memories of. And I'm worried about seeing some of these people. I have nothing in common with them. But there are others that I love and feel like we are on the same plain. I don't know I'm going to interact with the others though. They clearly don't care for me either. Yes, I will be polite. But...deep down I'll know...
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Post by flanz on Sept 30, 2021 19:24:36 GMT
No. However, I don't FB, so I don't keep in touch with people from the dark depths of my past. The people I keep in touch with are those I spend time with, and they all believe in the vaccine, have followed the CDC recommedations, and are not covid-deniers, etc. I have no living family other than my (adult) son and his partner, so no worries about relatives either. For anyone who has struggled with their friends/family to the point of severing ties with them, I am so sorry :/ Ditto! |
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tincin
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,382
Jul 25, 2014 4:55:32 GMT
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Post by tincin on Sept 30, 2021 20:25:25 GMT
At least 4 friends of 20+ years and a couple of relatives. I just can’t play nice anymore. I suppose I could but I won’t. If they want to do crap that only affects them, oh well, however their idiocy affects far too many people for me to play nice.
For the record, the friends dumped me because I’m not a trumpet. The relatives are a different story but posted that anyone who disagreed with their point of view should unfriend them. So I did, gladly.
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Post by mnmloveli on Sept 30, 2021 23:00:01 GMT
I haven’t lost no friends during the Pandemic. I consider myself very lucky & blessed.
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Post by scrappintoee on Oct 9, 2021 3:07:43 GMT
Sadly, yes--- friends, plus one family member. People who I never dreamed had such horrible beliefs!
The anti-vaccine, Covid denying, AND their unbelievable love of Trump. I tried to reconcile it, I
wanted to keep these things SEPARATE from what I liked/loved about them, but I just can't.
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Post by Jennifer C on Oct 9, 2021 4:21:18 GMT
Friends in real life, none. FB friends, several, but they were just fb friends because we went to HS together YEARS ago. No worries.
My dh's Aunt. Lord have mercy. She's always welcomed me into her home, always loved on my kids, always just smiled at me. I am of Mexican descent. After Trump, she started with her anti Mexican posts and rants. My hubby said to just unfollow her but how do I go to her house and let her love on my kids when she shows her true self.
Then she posted that all Mexican's, legal or illegal, born here or citizenship should be deported and start over because we are rascally little people.
That was it for me. And my husband agreed. He did go over and talk to her with her daughter present and she apologized and said she didn't mean us, just the other Mexican's. I've spoken with her daughter several times over the months but we saw dh's Aunt at a baby shower and I made sure that my dd stayed next to me and we didn't talk to her. She did tell people that I've broken her heart because I've yanked her beautiful brother's grandkids away from her. But she just posted about the Haitian's on the border and said the Mexican's were trying to blend in with them to get in. Ok...
Jennifer
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Dalai Mama
Drama Llama
La Pea Boheme
Posts: 6,985
Jun 26, 2014 0:31:31 GMT
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Post by Dalai Mama on Oct 9, 2021 4:39:26 GMT
I would find it difficult to remain friends with someone who had a wanton disregard for the health and safety of others. That’s not a difference of opinion - it’s a difference in core/moral values.
Thankfully, every one of my friends/family sees the necessity of vaccination and masking. Even my one unvaxxed family member has resigned himself to getting immunized (he’s got some anxiety issues concerning the jab but is currently living a hermit-like existence to keep both himself and others safe).
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purplebee
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,801
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Post by purplebee on Oct 9, 2021 13:34:08 GMT
I have lost respect/esteem for so many acquaintances/FB friends/people who I have played music with for many years because of their support for trump.
And add the COVID denier/anti-mask/anti-vax fallout b/c of trump and I have unfollowed, unfriended or repeatedly snoozed quite a few FB “friends.” I have downgraded one important real life friendship b/c of the anti-liberal trump support plastered all over their FB feed. These are people who now live across the country but who have been good friends for 40+ years. We have stayed with them, they have stayed with us. I am at the point where I do not care if I even see them again.
One thing that upsets me about this whole political divide is that pre-trump, divisive politics would never have entered into a friendship/acquaintance with many of the folks I am referring to. Yes, it is good to know who you are dealing with, and that knowledge allows you to remove yourself from a relationship that makes you uncomfortable, but I think trump loyalty has put words (and memes) in peoples’ mouths that make them appear much worse than they actually are, but it has also made me hypersensitive about even a whiff of support for him and his minions, and that immediately colors my opinion of that person.
I am also sure that I have been unfriended/unfollowed on FB by a number of trump supporting acquaintances. Fine with me, saves me the time of doing it myself. I am in a very red state, surrounded by Republicans and I will not back down.
I try not to allow myself to dwell upon what this country has become, and how toxic politics has divided friends and family. I cannot see any way out of this awful abyss any time soon.
Remember the days when you and a friend or coworker could make a quick trip to the polls together to cast your votes as American citizens, vote for different parties, share that info and never even think about it again after leaving the polling place? Yes, it is good to be informed about your voting choices, but sometimes I long for simpler, less fraught times….
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