My Wife Apologizes for My Politics – WSJ

If, like me, you find yourself in a politically mixed marriage, being out in the world with your spouse can bring its share of difficulties. This is especially true in an election year.

As an undecided voter on the center-right, I m the ideological odd man out in our crowd. Most of our friends mainline MSNBC. My wife has developed several coping strategies over our 50 years as a couple.

Usually, when we re getting dressed for a party or dinner, her first line of attack or self-defense is to ask: Can t you just lie? But for better or worse, I m a terrible liar.

via www.wsj.com

I’m probably among the last people you would ask for advice about this, but what I find works well is just to ask questions — not too inflammatory ones (e.g. “do you really think a boy can become a girl?”) — and let whomever I’m talking to prattle on about the evils of Trump and the GOP or whatever. It is rare beyond measure that my counter-party will ask “But what do you think?” Of course, in an academic environment this leads to having to tolerate an enormous amount of rubbish and ultimately to disillusionment. But perhaps you last a little longer this way.