In November 2024, my neighbors fought the battle of the political yard signs. There were approximately zero Trump signs on my street before I put up a demure pink “Ladies for Trump” sign. In fact, there were no signs except for the neighbor with multiple yard flags for every liberal cause: “In this house, Hope not Hate, etc.”
In response to my provocation, that neighbor put up yet another flag: one for Kamala. An older gentleman who passes me every day when I walk the dog pulled me aside to share his concern: “Trump isn’t for women.” I merely chuckled, wished him a good day, and kept walking. The neighbor on my right put up a Kamala sign.
And yet, after I put up my Trump sign, two more neighbors put up their own. One middle-aged neighbor—a woman!—walking by smiled and nodded at me. The neighbor to my left added a Trump sign. One day, a 30-something woman jogging by came over and said, loud enough for anyone to hear: “I love your sign.” My neighbor with multiple liberal yard flags added more.
Ending the Battle of the Yard Signs
When I tired of the silent war, I ordered a specially made sign that said “We are all Americans.” No one had anything to say about that. live in a purple neighborhood in a city so blue it could be indigo, in the heart of a blood-red state, South Carolina. The precinct I’m in voted light blue. We’re next to four light-red precincts, one moderately red, and several blue. We’ve all been jostling along fairly well after the election. We all still wave at each other on our morning dog walks. We help each other out after storms.. Fortunately for our country, offline there are places where that happens still, as @BULLHAULERTIGER wrote:
I'm a hard core conservative and my neighbor is a Biden/Harris supporter, we get along good. He puts up his yard signs and I put up mine. No problems.
— jay thompson (@BULLHAULERTIGER) March 3, 2026
Radio host Jesse Kelly encourages his listeners to move to red territory if they want a more peaceful life. Granted, I wouldn’t have had to deal with multiple “Hate Has No Home” signs if I had. However, the tradeoff has been not living in a bubble. I’ve learned to sharpen my arguments and back up my statements with facts—no emoting.
I’m not going to lie; lately, dealing with my left-of-center friends and neighbors has been a challenge. A new friend invited me to an event this past weekend, and I had to bite my tongue at a remark, or I may have wound up on a TikTok reel. A simple talk about places we’ve traveled turned to bucket-list destinations, and I talked about how lucky I was to have visited Israel in 2022. When I shared how I wanted to go back, lamenting the fact that the tourist guides I met were suffering, she said, “Well, they brought it on themselves.” After I started visibly, I stated forcefully that I don’t agree. I had to change the subject, as I was a guest in that home. Conservatives don’t crash out in emotional spasms. If I’d done it again, I’d have quietly pointed out that they didn’t bring on the Hamas invasion, but that’s what you think of after the event. That’s the price I pay for living in this blue city.
Divisiveness vs Keeping the Peace
Earlier that day, I gave a talk at my Toastmasters club about Dennis Prager’s new book, If There Is No God, The Battle Over Who Defines Good and Evil. As I wrote in my review in PJ Media, the book is about drawing our values from the Judeo-Christian tradition, not feelings.
Our club members’ perspectives reflect our city's divide. I’ve learned to listen to people whose ideas have nothing in common with mine. I needed that patience when the person who was assigned to evaluate my presentation said she doesn't think we should bring religion into our talks. She said it caused divisiveness in the club. Sweet little me! I would’ve been hard-pressed to be less divisive. Perhaps it was my mention of the dedication to Charlie Kirk that sent her over the edge.
Some of my liberal friends have assumed that because I am mild-mannered and don’t go off like a leftist whenever I hear something I don’t like, I agree with them. How does simply not screeching the way overly emotional, nose-ringed street protestors do mean I agree with you? Have you noticed that when a conservative simply states his beliefs, as I did in my speech, he is accused of being divisive? I refuse. That’s why I stay in that Toastmasters club – to keep bringing my ideas to others who would never hear them. If I want to be comforted by like-minded folk, I can drive the suburbs and be surrounded by Red State America. Perhaps in the coming years, when I am less flexible and more grumpy, I will move there.
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