I met with Donald Trump in his office years ago — in the early 90’s when I was living in New York. I was actively involved in trying to save  dolphins from the gill nets commonly used in tuna fishing. There was a boycott on tuna, and Starkist had pledged to stop using the nets, but other companies had not. Knowing that Mr. Trump had contributed to President Clinton’s campaign, I had the idea that if he wrote to Al Gore — the very public environmentalist — perhaps someone from the administration (hopefully Al Gore) would speak out on behalf of the thousands of dolphins that were being ruthlessly and brutally killed when they were rounded up in these nets. At the very least, the letter could get more media attention for the issue.

It was a morning meeting and I was right on time, armed with the material I wanted leave with Mr. Trump. He was about 15 minutes late and when he walked in, I thought he looked tired. Then he took off his overcoat, handed it to an assistant, sat down behind his desk, and I swear that he suddenly looked taller, more energetic and more commanding than he had just seconds earlier. I was there for about 20 minutes; he was gracious and interested, and he did end up writing a letter to Al Gore about the unnecessary slaughter of sentient mammals who should be protected, not killed. I’ve searched for the letter both in my files and on line, and can’t find it. But trust me, it was a good letter. Al Gore, however, did not speak out on the issue, which was disappointing.

I get the appeal of Donald Trump, even though I disagree with his politics. As many have said, it’s refreshing to see someone enter the political field who isn’t talking in circles and pre-ordained soundbites, who is unfiltered and sometimes shockingly direct. It is true that we as a country are tired of politics as usual. And there is nothing usual about Donald Trump.

But I think he also appeals to people on a very individual basis. We have all wished that we could say what’s really on our minds. We’ve all walked away from an encounter with someone who has offended us and thought, “Damn, if I had only said…”

I had an experience recently that made me think of Donald Trump. A woman who I was regularly meeting for dog walks 5 days a week called me before the 4th of July and asked me to keep her dog for a day. She knows I have a cat, who her dog would chase, so I was a bit shocked at the request. I said no — because of my cat — and then sent her the names of 2 dog-sitters who I know and have used. I never heard from her again. Well, except for a curt and semi-rude response when, about a week later, I texted her about meeting for a dog walk. It was inevitable that we would run into each other, and one morning we did. She gave me a painted on smile and said, “Oh hi! I haven’t seen you in a while.” I said something non-confrontational and went the opposite way…and that’s when I thought of Donald Trump.

If I were more like Trump, I thought, I’d have said, “Of course you haven’t seen me, you dumped me, you idiot!” (He uses the word idiot a lot, as you’ve probably noticed.) He might have also called her out on her hypocrisy and her phoniness, probably used the word stupid, which he also seems quite fond of.

Anyway, the point is, he has infiltrated our collective psyche, not only when it comes to politics, but also in our personal lives. Not many of us behave the way he does, nor do we know many people who do. We’re polite when we really want to slap someone upside the head with the truth. We’re demure when we want to be direct. That’s why we can’t seem to get enough of Donald Trump — he’s thrown out the rules, made up his own, and they appear to be working for him.

I have no idea how this would play on the world stage if he actually became President of the United States. A shouting match between him and Putin might be amusing for about 30 seconds, but probably wouldn’t end well. And bombing the oil fields in the Middle East isn’t exactly going to make the world a safer place. Mr. Trump does have a way of keeping us in the present moment — as in, what is he going to say next? But we might want to look a little bit into the future and ask ourselves what a Trump presidency would look like. Is there a Russian translation for words like stupid and idiot, I wonder?