I wonder what our handyman, Mike, thinks about Trump now...

[CTyankee]

Nice guy, has a beautiful wife and sweet little boy, been doing work on our vintage colonial house for years now. We never talked politics but right after the DNC convention I was so excited about Kamala being our next president, when Mike came over to do some work I told him how excited I was that we'd have a woman president for the first time!

Dead silence.

I immediately regretted even mentioning my excitement to him but was stupefied that he would have that reaction.

Now I wonder how he's making out with his small business and all his hard work. The lumber he bought to build us a handicap ramp for my husband has gone up a lot, due to the tariff situation his president brought upon him. Not Biden, not the Dems in Congress. Trump did it and it is hurting Mike's livelihood.

I wonder what Mike is thinking now.

[Blues Heron]

1. He's thinking whatever they want him to think probably

[CTyankee]

2. Hard to think straight when half of your business is wiped out that you worked so hard to build.

I'd like to think he's learned not to trust the republicans. I'm so sorry it has come to this...

[Blues Heron]

3. That will be the last thing he thinks, most con victims will do anything but admit they were conned

[CTyankee]

5. Or will he twist it around to make it all the Dems fault?

[MrsCheaplaugh]

13. He'll just blame Biden, immigrants, Democrats - like Fox tells him to.

And happily vote for Trump again. Can't fix stupid.

[CTyankee]

14. I'm beginning to think it is his church. I had never heard of it but my guess is it is Evangelical.

[WmChris]

40. He won't care

He'll just pass the cost increase on to you and his other customers. His labor charge will probably go up too. He can blame it on inflation and ignore the GQP connection.

[CTyankee]

41. Of course, but he is a local guy and works locally so he knows what people can/can't afford. He's not a faceless

corporation that just raises prices. His work is face to face and in folks' homes.

[hatrack]

4. I'll tell you what he's thinking: "THANKS, OBAMA!!!"

[CTyankee]

9. Then he is living in a hell of his own making. How long can you make a living when you are totally irrational?

It won't help him professionally. He is screwed and Trump screwed him. His child's well being is being threatened. His life is in upheaval as his wife struggles to pay the bills on her earnings as a hairdresser in a hair salon.

[SheltieLover]

6. Mike doesn't think or he would've shared your excitement about kamala

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. Was he silent because he's a Trump voter or silent because he doesn't get personal with clients?

[CTyankee]

10. My guess it was because he was never gonna vote for a Dem, much less a woman Dem. Maybe it was religious, I dunno.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

11. yeah I know it was a guess, I was just providing a different guess for his reaction

[cyclonefence]

8. We have a Steve at our house

who does handyman and garden stuff for us. He is married to a Q-Anon devotee, and he voted for Trump against Biden. We have (sort of) converted (i.e. saved) him, at least partially. He did not vote for Kamala, *but* he didn't vote for Trump, either. Hang in there; friendly conversations about how much food costs now is gradually breaking into his "they're all alike" mentality. And I'm waiting for next year, when he's going to have even more trouble paying for his Obamacare.

They can be helped, some of them, gently and one at a time. It's going to take a while--Steve made some crack about our son's wife being a "blackie" and that got shut down real fast ("we don't talk like that around here, and if you want to work for us, you'll stop with that racist shit right now&quot . He is now so contrite that he keeps bringing presents for our little mixed-race grandson.

It doesn't hurt that he sort of thinks of us as his mom and dad.

[CTyankee]

12. I wonder how Mike is making out in solid blue Connecticut.

Maybe he'll move to a red state. Or, more hopefully, maybe he'll start thinking about politics more rationally.

[paleotn]

24. You have far more patience than I.

He'd be fired on the spot at our residence.

[hadEnuf]

31. How can somebody be a Q-Anon devotee?

They would have to be mentally ill or at least a child living in a cave who didn't know any better. I mean it is admittedly made-up nonsense. I guess it could be read for a laugh, like The Onion or something.

[cyclonefence]

42. She is schizophrenic

and a drug addict (probably self-medicating).

So you called it.

[CrispyQ]

15. I was going to replace all of my interior doors last year but didn't & now they're 25% more.

If all of my project costs go up that much, I will have to cross a few off the list, but for now, everything's on hold cuz of Taco.

[dalton99a]

16. He will raise prices accordingly.

So will his wife. And both will continue to vote for Republicans or against Democrats.

[CTyankee]

17. I think you are right but with an additional thought that I had.

He might move away to a red state where the cost of living is cheaper and he'll find more people who think like he does. Or he may turn apolitical because the money is better here than what he can make in a red state.

[WarGamer]

18. Actually the tariff on Canadian soft-wood lumber is 14.54%... the same as it's been since 2024.

The real danger is... Trump ordered a review of that and recommended a 30%+ tariff...

But it wouldn't go into effect until later in the year.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada%E2%80%93United_States_softwood_lumber_dispute

[CTyankee]

20. I don't know what "soft wood lumber" is? If it is what you'd build a ramp with, then I do know what it is.

[WarGamer]

21. softwood trees include conifers... pine, fir, cedar, redwood...

Non softwood is hardwoods... like Oak and Maple and Walnut

[hatrack]

43. "Softwoods" generically means conifers, as noted above. . .

They're the main material for stick-built homes, which is what most new US houses are. Something like 90% of American homes use softwoods for framing, roofs, etc., along with plywood and chipboard and other laminates.

Hardwoods (oak, maple, walnut) are usually limited to furniture, veneers and decorative applications like fireplace mantles or accents (along with gun stocks and baseball bats and the like).

[spanone]

19. It's a cult, bet he still loves trmp.

Probably blames Biden.

[paleotn]

23. All the way to bankruptcy and unemployment.

My heart does not bleed.

[spanone]

39. ...nor mine.

[paleotn]

22. Mike made his bed. Let him wallow in it.

[Warpy]

25. Guys like Mike are why I never talk politics

unless I know the person really, really well.

Guys like Mike are an illustration of how good people can be dead wrong and still be good people.

The shit is only starting to hit the fan, I'm afraid, and guys like Mike aren't going to be the only ones hurting and small businesses aren't going to be the only things struggling, families will be, also.

Be nice to Mike, he's just being lied to and he lacks the smarts to figure that out.

[CTyankee]

38. We are both nice to him and have had him work for us for years. He is reliable and his work is excellent.

I always inquire about his family and happy to refer folks to him for repair, etc. and he knows that.

[Orrex]

26. He's thinking that all of his problems are caused by impoverished brown people.

[J_William_Ryan]

27. "I wonder what Mike is thinking now."

If he was capable of thinking, he wouldn’t have voted for Trump to begin with.

[CTyankee]

34. That's a possibility. He might have gotten so screwed over by Trump's policies that he is now in deep regret.

[Bobstandard]

28. He's thinking about joining ICE

He see it as a great job with benefits that let’s him mess with the folks he always thought didn’t deserve what they had. Added bonus: guns!

[StarryNite]

29. I went to Walmart this morning.

My husband loves their cheap dollar a loaf bread. Well today it was up to $1.47 a loaf. Still cheap but that's a huge jump.

[jrthin]

30. Nice guys cannot vote for this man. He's not a nice guy. Like attract like.

[ImNotGod]

32. He thinking whatever fox news tells him to think. nt

[republianmushroom]

33. Many, living and learning, now.

The sphincters seem to be a little tighter, the forced smile and not wanting to talk about it now, is a clear indication they are learning.

[mgardener]

35. Mike is thinking

He's going to raise the prices for his customers to cover the increase in lumber prices.

[usonian]

36. Good jobs are opening up.

Picking lettuce.



More thank you cards to print and hand out to maga geniuses here.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219770873

SORRY!! Only "welfare bums" accept handouts.

[Emile]

37. The power of the Magic R is telling him anything

bad happening now is because of Joe Biden.