TRUMPED BY POLITENESS
WEARING Trump’s ubiquitous “Make America Great Again” hat and a T-shirt that read “Trump won. Get over it”, I headed out onto the streets. And the answer was… Well it seems Cardiffians are just too damn polite.
Whether it was standing in the street looking passers-by in the eye or stopping people to ask directions, not one person shared an angry word.
I mean it was clear when I was standing around that I was getting some funny looks.
Some people smiled, others laughed – some even looked angry.
A few people even came up to me and complimented me on my tasteful T-shirt.
But mostly the reaction was people being overly polite to a person they thought was lost, and maybe just a bit of an idiot.
“I would never leave somebody lost on the streets, regardless of what he was wearing,” one man said. Others were less generous. “I just assumed you were a stupid American who couldn’t think for himself,” said a man outside the Cardiff University’s student union.
Some people admitted they just hadn’t been paying attention.
“I’d still have helped you, but to be honest I just wasn’t paying attention to what you were wearing until we started talking,” said one woman.
Things heated up a bit when I asked people to explain who Nye Bevan was.
“He’d be turning in his grave if he could see all this,” said one man we asked.
“You want to ask me about Trump, then I’ll give you my opinion.”
What we have learned is that while the tense inter- actions and disputes of the American elections don’t seem to be cooling off, that the people of Cardiff always seem up for helping a person in need of directions.