"How long have you been making political campaign posters?" I asked M. Dash Pica, owner of a thriving printing business.
"Nearly thirty years," Pica said. "And my dad did it before that."
"Do you specialize in one political party?"
"Yes, and no," he said.
"How's that?" I asked.
"Well, we have two companies," he told me. "One is called The People's Printer, and that firm deals with progressives, liberals, Democrats, the Working Families Party, Native Americans, independents. The People's Printer works with what some people call 'The Left'."
"I see. But you also have another company that deals with ‘The Right’?"
"Sure do."
"What's that one called?"
"The All-Americans for America in the Gol' Dang USA 100% Red White and Blue but Mostly White Small Business Millionaires, Billionaires, and (Hopefully) Trillionaires Printing Emporium."
"Descriptive name," I said. "What is the acronym?"
"TAAfAGDUSA100RWaBbMWSBMBa(h)TPE," he told me.
"Wow, that's a mouthful."
"Yeah. We mostly just call it All-American Printing."
"Makes sense," I said. “But there’s something else I’m wondering about.”
"What's that?"
"Are you, yourself, involved in politics? I mean, do you lean toward one side or the other?"
"Oh no," he said. “That might be bad for business.”
"I notice you're printing a sign that says, ‘Cancel the Electoral College’."
"Hey, if you can draw it, we'll print it."
"The fact that GOP candidates sometimes win the presidency without getting a majority of votes doesn't bother you?"
"Well, that’s a bad law and should be changed, but as things stand, the Republicans stole those elections fair and square."
"I see. Does the rage in some of the signs ever get to you?"
"The rage?"
"Sure," I said. "I'm looking at some of these signs you have here: 'Kill a Conservative for Christ,' and 'USA Took a Trump on Itself.' Those seem to be a bit ornery."
"That's nothing," he said. "Look at this one." He showed me a banner with the letters RWNJDARFF on it.
"I don't know what RWNJDARFF means," I told him.
"It stands for Right-Wing Nut-Job Douchebag A-hole Racist Fascist F#@ktard," he said.
"Well,” I said, “that is accurate, but it is ornery."
"You bet. But none of that bothers me."
"You don’t have any problems working with both sides of the political spectrum?" I asked.
"Not really," he said. "Each of my companies has policies that protect us."
"What are those policies?"
"When you're printing something for the progressives, you take a deposit that covers costs, do the work, then invoice them for the rest."
"And when you're printing something for the Republicans?" I asked.
"With Republicans,” he said, “get the entire payment up front. "