The Conversation

An airport bar...

I was waiting to get into a crowded restaurant at the Phoenix airport when a server said I could just find a seat at the bar — easier said than done.

The bar was huge, but the seats were packed in tightly and folks had their carry-ons parked next to their stools, so it was nearly impossible to find a seat to squeeze into.

I walked around the bar twice to find a stool.

Most of the people at the bar were men and it is harder to sit next to them because they take up a little more space with their legs and arms spread out. I didn’t want to bother their limbs, but I didn’t want to sit on them either.

Finally, I spotted a seat next to a woman about my age. Her limbs were tucked in next to her body, so I slid onto the stool next to her. We didn’t speak for several minutes but we did share an outlet to charge our phones and wait for the bartender.

I was downloading the British Baking Show onto my phone. It is my safe show to watch while I fly. It calms my nerves along with the Crown and Diet Coke I order before a flight…

The lady next to me ordered a sandwich without fries, but it was delivered with French fries and that’s when we started to talk. She leaned over and asked if I wanted her fries — she was trying to cut down on fried food.

“Nope. I need those fries less than you do, friend.”

And then she asked where I was flying. I told her Kansas City. She asked what I was doing in Phoenix.

Here we go.

There’s something you should know. Because I am rural, because I live in the heartland, Trump country, I assume white women around my age are at least a Republican, and at worst, a MAGA.

In general, I am not wrong.

I was in Phoenix to speak to a few hundred people gathered for the Save our Schools Arizona event. It was a gorgeous gala with a celebration of students and the arts and the sciences and teachers and everything that is good about public education.

But this is Arizona.

Arizona: Where 92% of students attend public schools. Where the Republican-led legislature has blown a $1.4 billion hole into their state budget with school vouchers. Where every single public school in the state lost $300K in funding due to those school vouchers.

I was in Phoenix to talk about the school voucher scandal and the destruction of the Department of Education and how we got into the mess of defunding schools and classrooms and teachers.

The Save our Schools event was non-partisan, but I know how partisan the destruction of schools has been. I know exactly who is to blame.

My view of Arizona from the window seat.

I told the woman at the bar that I was in Phoenix to speak about public schools.

She said she was a school nurse for years and even worked the front desk at an elementary school. She said she saw the trouble mounting in schools and felt teachers needed to be paid more.

Okay, that’s encouraging.

This woman may not be MAGA, but I didn’t jump in with my opinion yet — not because I am scared of giving my thoughts on public schools, but because I was exhausted from my work and speaking schedule and was in no mood to visit with a Trump voter.

I’d rather drink my drink and eat my chicken tacos in peace.

She went on talking.

She said teachers have it so rough now…especially with social media. That statement could be interpreted a number of ways, so I still didn’t know where she stood.

And then she talked about school funding. That was my in. Let’s go.

I told her I was worried about funding after Trump signed the Executive Order to dismantle the Department of Education.

She said, “Oh, I think it will work out for the best. Now that money can go to the states to pay for schools and teachers.”

There it is.

There is the disinformation that Republicans have put out for decades. I immediately knew that she gets her information from unreliable sources and that she is misinformed.

I gleaned a lot from that comment and I finally had just enough of a buzz to be able to talk to her without being annoyed. Hell, maybe I could reach her?

I told her that the Department of Education did not implement curriculum and that its job was to enforce anti-discrimination laws in schools. To ensure equal access to education regardless of race or gender or disability or socioeconomic status. I told her that dismantling the department weakened protections for already marginalized students.

She said she had worked with students with disabilities and special needs. This further encouraged me to go on.

She asked about the “curriculum” handed down from the Department of Education.

I explained that the department doesn’t create curriculum or standards. I told her that curriculum has always been created at the district level. I told her stories about writing my own curriculum and the process of getting it board-approved. These things have always happened at the local level.

She listened. And seemed to think. She kept nodding her head in agreement.

Then we talked about travel and grandkids and dogs and life in general.

She finished her beer and sandwich. She never did find a taker for her French fries. I finished my tacos and drink and we both headed out in different directions to our gates.

You may wonder if I changed her mind…I don’t have any idea. I do know that she was presented with facts that she had not heard before. That she had a polite and even fun conversation with someone she may hate had she encountered me online.

I don’t know if I made a difference, but I know it didn’t hurt me to engage with someone who is not obviously hateful. I don’t know her politics and maybe she thinks she doesn’t know mine. Maybe she is not active in politics — maybe she doesn’t think it’s polite to talk politics.

I’ll never know, but I do know this: it’s worth it to take the time with people who are misinformed. Even when you’re tired. Even when you would rather sit in peace.

My schedule is a killer. I write. I work to raise money for down-ballot candidates in Missouri. My speaking schedule has exploded lately. Oh, and I have the five kids and the four grandkids that I like to see occasionally.

The point? Even when we are tired, democracy is worth it. If we are going to beat back the fascists and the oligarchs, we are going to have to talk.

We are going to have to reach folks.

Sometimes, it’s one by one.

Sometimes, it’s at an airport bar.

~Jess