As I write this article, the election hasn’t happened yet. We sit here with knots in our stomachs and a nervous energy that makes us restless about the results. Regardless of who your candidates are or what propositions and proposals you’re voting on, this election has been nerve racking in the worst way possible. It has brought out the best and worst from either side of the aisle, straining relationships, and at times breaking them.

Yet with all the heated arguments for and against candidates, many people feel like they can’t openly talk about their candidate for fear of being fired. Because as we all (should) know, freedom of speech only protects you legally, it doesn’t stop others from shunning you, or your boss from firing you for speaking your mind.

California has consistently been a Democratic state for just over two decades, and in those two decades the citizens of California have become as deeply rooted in their liberal ways as the South is in their conservative ways. Can you imagine being a Republican in California that supports Trump? Nightmare.

No, the real nightmare is how harshly we judge each other for who we support in this election. People shouldn’t be afraid of losing their jobs for backing either candidate, yet that is what happened when I interviewed two people about the reasons behind their support for Donald Trump. Both people decided to remain anonymous out of fear of the fallout, so I will be calling them Sam and Taylor.

I first spoke to Taylor and asked them what was Trump’s appeal to them.

“He lies, but not like the other [politicians] do. He will get past the political correctness. If nothing else, Trump won’t do worse than George W. Bush,” said Taylor. “I’m voting for him because he’s obnoxious, he will shake things up. I’m not scared of the world ending if Trump wins, and neither should you.”

I asked Sam the same question, and they replied “Trump’s appealing factor is that he is not a politician. Trump has what my politicians don’t have now, calling it how he sees it.”

Seems reasonable, so I asked them if they thought Trump’s policies would bring prosperity to the US. Their answers were polar opposites.

“Hard to tell. Clinton’s policies won’t help the middle class. Obama helped the one percent. I don’t know if Trump will help, but I know Clinton won’t,” said Taylor.

“I do believe that Trump will try and restore what was once lost, prosperity. The issue I believe he will have are those who feel personally attacked by his miscommunication or what the media has twisted,” stated Sam.

With such a passionate answer from Sam, I asked if there was anything in Trump’s policies that they disagree with.

“No. I believe that the policies that Trump is wanting to implement are to help rebuild a strong foundation. We have lost track of what is important in the US due to political correctness,” said Sam.

Meanwhile, Taylor hit me with a very surprising answer.“There are many things I don’t agree on. I’m only voting for him for entertainment because the government is miserably broken. Both parties hate each other, I think this would be a great wake up call.”

Imagine feeling so trapped by a system that’s constantly putting the wellbeing of it’s country in jeopardy that the only way to wake up the politicians is by supporting a man that, as Taylor described, is “certifiably insane.”

For now, we’ll sit here wondering what the state of the nation will be when this is all over, and hope that it’s not a nightmare.