Derick (Rick) Bugg and Charmaine Tenwinkel

Recorded July 30, 2024 56:54 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id: osh000162

Description

One Small Step conversation partners Derick "Rick" Bugg (67) and Charmaine Tenwinkel (66) discuss the current state of political polarization in the U.S. and how their political views have evolved over time. They discuss growing up in abusive households and how that shaped their way of thinking and worldview. They also discuss working in a male-dominated industry, mentorship of the next generation and the importance of family.

Subject Log / Time Code

Charmaine Tenwinkel and Derick "Rick" Bugg introduce themselves to each other.
Rick explains that he wants to do the interview because it could help young people and that he works with young people.
Charmaine says she lives in a community that’s on the opposite side of her politically, and she’s tired of walking on eggshells and wants to have an open conversation with someone.
Rick talks about how his girlfriend is a Republican and he’s an independent. “I’m on the same side as you.” Get out of town.
Charmaine says she was a Republican for many, many years. Her husband is an independent. Her daughter is married to a staunch Republican.
Charmaine reads Rick’s bio.
Charmaine says she was touched by the fact that Rick grew up in an abusive household. She says her father was an alcoholic that was abusive, more towards her brothers than herself.
Charmaine says she was always in businesses that were male dominated, and that growing up in a military household and as the only daughter prepared her to have a voice and speak up.
Rick asks if Charmaine came across times when people tried to block her because she was a woman. “Absolutely,” Charmaine says. She was the only female sales manager that W.R. Grace Construction products ever had.
Charmaine says they will let you in the door because you're a woman, but you "better know what you’re talking about." “I like that,” Rick replies, laughing.
Rick says his No. 1 influence was his mother. Growing up in the 60s and 70s, it was a turbulent time. His mother taught him, no matter what someone said to him, don’t get angry, educate. His kids also taught him many lessons.
Charmaine talks about her grandmother’s influence on her. She remembers dancing to Lawrence Welk with her grandmother in the kitchen.
Charmaine talks about her coworker who was a recovering alcoholic who had grown up as the child of alcoholics, and helped her get into a 12-step program for the children of alcoholics. She says in Maine, you don’t talk about family issues, you bottle them up, and her mentor taught her it’s OK to talk about it.
Rick says he wasn’t big on politics growing up, but it became important when he went abroad and saw how people in other countries viewed the U.S.
Charmaine says growing up, politics weren't important to her. She says the Reagan years were good to her, registered as a Republican. She’s dismayed by the two-party system.
Rick says working in the military, he worked on projects where the president maybe did and maybe did not know about it, so there was plausible deniability. He says he knows candidates may say something on the campaign trail but not actually be able to do it while in office.
Charmaine says growing up in the military made her more open-minded and gave her wanderlust. When she travels overseas, she immerses herself in the food and likes to ask people what they think of the U.S. and what they would do in our shoes.
Rick says what swayed him recently was when one of the candidates made fun of John McCain. That pushed me toward a different way altogether.
Charmaine says she has actually thought about if this is the country she wants to live in. Rick says the thought has crossed his mind too. “Hey, I thought we were supposed to be opposed, but we’ve been on the same page the whole time.”
Rick says politics has strained relationships. His girlfriend and her family are Republicans, and some of his family members have switched to becoming more Republican. He says he does have some conservative views, but he says he can’t run that path all the way. Charmaine asks where all the moderates are?
Charmaine says there’s a couple whom she was very close with, went on church pilgrimage trips together, sung in choirs, gone on vacations together. They are so conservative that she can’t be herself around them and it gets heated. She says she keeps her friends of an ilk closer.
Charmaine says she is taking away from the conversation is that she just likes Rick as a person and wants to take her dogs to his farm. Rick says they would get dirty. Charmaine says she has more hope now than she has in a number of years.

Participants

  • Derick (Rick) Bugg
  • Charmaine Tenwinkel

Recording Locations

Leesburg Public Library

Venue / Recording Kit

Partnership

Partnership Type

Outreach