Phil Thane ✅2d ago
Waiting in the hospital cafe to collect wife and an old guy is sharing the table while he waits for his wife. He wants to chat. Within a couple of minutes he's on about 'them' and 'stop the boats'. I argue, politely but this is why I have no friends since we moved down here. Everyone I speak to turns out to be far right. #politics #EastofEngland #Bedford #Bedfordshire
Show threadBeverley2d ago

@pthane

I cringe when I see some of the hate spewed online by people I know and had thought like-minded. It’s shocking to me. Even worse when it’s blood-relatives even if fairly distant.

Makes me feel very isolated and alone.

Show threadPhil Thane ✅
@TalktoBeverley I've lost touch with most relatives apart from my brother who emigrated to Cyprus and a cousin I email a couple of times a year plus daughters who are ok, so I don't have that problem. It's weird though, my wife has several friends here and they just talk about family stuff and health (we're old! Health is a major issue). They instinctively avoid controversy. But me, straight into it, every time
Jun 17 at 6:37amWeb
Show threadBeverley1d ago

@pthane

I vacillate between your wife’s stance and feeling that people can’t be ‘good’ if they hold such hateful views, and that I shouldn’t have anything to do with such folk.

I care for a close family member so struggle to have any kind of a social life anymore. I’m estranged from my siblings; it’s complicated, involving their father, my step-father.

I’ve always been a social creature, never imagined my life would shrink in this manner, but here I am.

😷 #covidIsNotOver

Show threadPhil Thane ✅1d ago
@TalktoBeverley That sounds tough. My family is mostly boringly conventional and pretty harmless. I get on with my brother OK via Signal and see him about once every 5 years. His wife is something else though. One of the reasons they emigrated was that she disliked the immigrants in Lancashire. They of course are not immigrants in Cyprus, they're ex-pats. She has dementia now, I haven't spoken to her for years but I doubt she's become more accepting.