Thread by @ByronYork

Dilemma for writer Virginia Heffernan. When it snows at her 'pandemic getaway,' helpful neighbors plow her driveway unbidden. Do a 'great job.' What a nice thing! They don't do this in the city! Only problem: Neighbors support Trump. 1/10 news.yahoo.com/column-trumpit…

Heffernan frets. Realizes 'I owe them thanks.' But Trump! Heffernan becomes suspicious: This could be, like, a terrorist thing: 'Hezbollah, the Shiite Islamist political party in Lebanon, also gives things away for free.' OMG! They're Trumpite terrorists! 2/10

Or they're Trumpite Nazis! After all, French collaborators said the Nazis were very polis, French for 'polite.' 'So when I accept generosity...acknowledging the legitimate kindness...am I also sealing us in as fellow travelers who are very polis to each other?' 3/10

This is terrifying! And what if the neighbors commit some other kindness in the future? What then? Heffernan: 'What do we do about the Trumpites around us?' 4/10

'My neighbors supported a man who showed near-murderous contempt for the majority of Americans,' says Heffernan. 'They kept him in business with support.' And I'm supposed to accept generosity from THEM? 5/10

Still, they plowed the driveway so nicely. What to do? Heffernan thinks and thinks, comes up with answer: I'll acknowledge their kindness with 'a wave and a thanks.' But no 'absolution.' No way. 'Free driveway work...is just not the same currency as justice and truth.' 6/10

But wait! Heffernan *can* give her neighbors something. She'll give them the opportunity to apologize for supporting Trump! 7/10

More importantly, Heffernan will offer her neighbors the opportunity to put aside what they believe and take up what she believes. What could be more generous and neighborly? 8/10

Heffernan: 'I can offer them a standing invitation to make amends. Not with a snowplow but by recognizing the truth about the Trump administration and, more important, by working for justice for all those whom the administration harmed.' 9/10

Thus Virginia Heffernan comes up with a way to repay the spontaneous kindness of neighbors: A wave, a thanks, and an invitation to become like Virginia Heffernan. What more could a neighbor want? 10/10 End. news.yahoo.com/column-trumpit…