January 9, 2017 THOMPSON, blog.

Anthropology Politics Problematic Plumbers Psychodrama

An Alien Presence

January 9, 2017 85 Comments

Ned Resnikoff, senior editor of the leftwing publication ThinkProgress, encounters a tradesman:

I had a plumber over to my apartment to fix a clogged drain. He was a perfectly nice guy and a consummate professional. But he was also a middle-aged white man with a southern accent who seemed unperturbed by [the election] news. And while I had him in the apartment, I couldn’t stop thinking about whether he had voted for Trump.

Then things get a little odd.

Update, via the comments:

Mags adds,

“Othering” doesn’t count when lefties do it.

One of the things that’s grimly funny is that Mr Resnikoff doubtless imagines himself as the one who’s enlightened, sophisticated and not at all prejudiced. And yet he veers towards hysteria based on nothing whatsoever beyond the race and presumed social class of a polite, visiting plumber. And note that the plumber’s reticence on political matters – i.e., his professionalism and good manners – is viewed by Resnikoff as suspect:

I have no real reason to believe he was a Trump supporter… but in my uncertainty, I couldn’t shake the sense of potential danger… I’m very privileged insofar as this sense of danger is unfamiliar to me. And I know I feel it much less acutely than a lot of other people right now… And even if Trump is gone in four years, I don’t expect to ever reclaim that feeling of security.

And this, lest we forget, is the kind of effete meltdown that Ms Resnikoff felt important to share publicly with his peers, in order to establish his ‘progressive’ credentials.

It would, I suspect, be interesting to hear the plumber’s account of his visit.

Reading time: 1 min

Written by: David