Now here’s a particularly nasty case of mistaken identity.
Marjory Grunninger of Cuyahoga Falls is NOT the person who recently said on a local radio station that she hates America.
The 89-year-old woman called me in tears Wednesday morning, telling me she had gotten three hostile phone calls on Tuesday and two more by 10 a.m. Wednesday from people who thought she made the comment.
She didn’t.
“I love America!” she said, choking up.
Her husband is a retired Akron police officer and her five brothers all served in the military. She says she is the last person in the world who would make that kind of comment.
Because her name is fairly unusual and the woman on the air apparently used exactly the same name, even her friends weren’t certain. They phoned her as well, asking if that was really her.
But the radio caller made a reference to having a sister, and Grunninger has never had one.
Nor is she a particularly good candidate for bantering on talk radio. She is hearing impaired and must use a machine that translates the caller’s voice into text before she is able to respond orally.
She says she doesn’t know what radio station was involved.
It’s bad enough that our political disagreements seem to have turned almost universally nasty. It’s far worse when we pick on the wrong person.
Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com. To find his podcast, “Dyer Necessities,” go to www.ohio.com/dyer. He also is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bob.dyer.31.