"Coming out..."

I am a public school educator, (a group that is typically quite liberal.) With the impending elections, there is a lot of talk in the teachers' lounge. It makes me so uncomfortable, that I no longer eat lunch there. Instead, a small group of us has been eating in a classroom. We talk. We laugh. We do NOT talk about politics...that is, until Friday. I did it. I outed myself as a conservative. I had suspicions about one of our "lunch bunch," so I said things in a way that would let her know. While our hostess was washing her hands with our backs to us, I casually mentioned that I'm probably the only right-leaning educator in the building. (Leaning??? I'm practically falling on the floor, I'm so right-leaning!) My friend quietly raised her hand! Woo HOOOO! I'm not alone! I knew I liked her! As we left to start our afternoon, my secretly conservative friend told me she got a McCain/Palin lawn sign from someone else that works in our building! The day just kept getting better and better!

At the end of the day, a bunch of us had decided to grab a glass of wine together at a local restaurant/bar when the bell rang. I saw my sign-giving colleague in the hall and outed myself to him, too. "So, Joe, (name changed to protect the innocent,) I hear you have some signs in your car that I might be interested in putting in my yard." He told me he ran out, but would stop by the Republican Party Headquarters soon and would bring me a sign on Monday.

It took him a while to arrive at the restaurant after school. When he sat down, Joe looked at me and said, "I have something in my car for you." Hurray! He had stopped at the Headquarters before coming. After a quick white wine spritzer, I had to leave for a piano lesson and got up to leave. Joe said he'd walk me out. He commented about what the others might be thinking as we walked toward the parking lot. We laughed so much as he walked between the rows of cars to block the sign from view of the other teachers. This election season will be a lot more fun now that I have a secret support group at school.

After I posted about winning the war in Iraq, I got a phone call from the friend I've known the longest. Sue said she'd read my post and told me she's a conservative, too! We've known each other since fourth grade. There's nothing better in the world than finding another connection to a long-time friend. (Hey, Sue, notice I didn't call you an "old" friend. I know I'm older than you.)Let the political emails fly!