for this election. I am. I've found myself crying more times than I care to admit lately. The news makes me exceedingly anxious. Social media makes me feel completely disheartened. My faith in my fellow Americans has been shaken. Who the hell have we become?
My husband and I were discussing it while drinking our morning coffee and he asked me if I could imagine a local election playing out the way the national one is. If the candidates for mayor of our small town talked about each other and acted towards each other the way the candidates for the most influential office in this fine country do. If the supporters of those candidates treated each other the way we see supporters behaving in news interviews and on social media. Our tiny town would be irreparably damaged.
Families would be divided. Marriages compromised. Kids taunting each other on the playground. Churches coming apart at the seams. Hate and rage and fear would walk down the street with us everyday. Past the courthouse where we fly our deceased veterans' flags every Veterans Day. It would follow us down the aisle of the grocery stores where we'd hide behind the cracker display to avoid THAT person who thinks THAT way. It would follow our kiddos into the swimming pools where parents would usher their child to the other end because THAT parent is here and did you read what SHE said? It would put space between us watching the band at halftime at the football games. Instead of all of us waving that two finger high over our steering wheels, we'd be met with scowls and perhaps a middle finger wave.
Politics gets passionate. People feel so strongly about their interests and beliefs, so convinced they are right and the "other" school of thought is leading us off into the abyss that we rant and scream. And cry. We hate each other secretly and not so secretly. We believe "they" are self-serving, ignorant, naive, stupid and just plain wrong. We post funny little pictures that like-minded people comment "lol" or click the haha reaction on FB. We mock each other. We tear each other down a little at a time and turn ourselves into the very things we hate. Self-serving, ignorant, naive, stupid and wrong.
I understand the passion. I lay in bed awake concerned that this is where this country is right now. So divided and afraid and angry. And then I realize anger comes from hurt. Hurt about jobs lost, hurt about a way of life being made the butt of jokes, hurt that people don't seem to care about "doing unto others" anymore, hurt that their life, their thoughts, their love is being swung around like a club, hurt that this big beautiful country has turned into a bunch of squabbling siblings who are hell bent on taking the other side down instead of building something better.
I'm not talking about how we're specifically voting; I'm talking about how we are acting. I care about how we are treating each other. Me included. I'm not just talking about during this election time; I'm talking about all the time. (Matt, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been that angry. I was wrong. Forgive me. -- But I'm standing by the whole "speaking in memes". Gag, okay?)
We are a community: my family, my friends, my neighbors, my small town, my church. WE are a community... this country. If this country is going to you-know-where in the proverbial hand basket, we're all going together, so why don't we all change course or at the least be civil during the ride.
Monday, October 17, 2016
I'm too soft...
for this election. I am. I've found myself crying more times than I care to admit lately. The news makes me exceedingly anxious. Social media makes me feel completely disheartened. My faith in my fellow Americans has been shaken. Who the hell have we become?
My husband and I were discussing it while drinking our morning coffee and he asked me if I could imagine a local election playing out the way the national one is. If the candidates for mayor of our small town talked about each other and acted towards each other the way the candidates for the most influential office in this fine country do. If the supporters of those candidates treated each other the way we see supporters behaving in news interviews and on social media. Our tiny town would be irreparably damaged.
Families would be divided. Marriages compromised. Kids taunting each other on the playground. Churches coming apart at the seams. Hate and rage and fear would walk down the street with us everyday. Past the courthouse where we fly our deceased veterans' flags every Veterans Day. It would follow us down the aisle of the grocery stores where we'd hide behind the cracker display to avoid THAT person who thinks THAT way. It would follow our kiddos into the swimming pools where parents would usher their child to the other end because THAT parent is here and did you read what SHE said? It would put space between us watching the band at halftime at the football games. Instead of all of us waving that two finger high over our steering wheels, we'd be met with scowls and perhaps a middle finger wave.
Politics gets passionate. People feel so strongly about their interests and beliefs, so convinced they are right and the "other" school of thought is leading us off into the abyss that we rant and scream. And cry. We hate each other secretly and not so secretly. We believe "they" are self-serving, ignorant, naive, stupid and just plain wrong. We post funny little pictures that like-minded people comment "lol" or click the haha reaction on FB. We mock each other. We tear each other down a little at a time and turn ourselves into the very things we hate. Self-serving, ignorant, naive, stupid and wrong.
I understand the passion. I lay in bed awake concerned that this is where this country is right now. So divided and afraid and angry. And then I realize anger comes from hurt. Hurt about jobs lost, hurt about a way of life being made the butt of jokes, hurt that people don't seem to care about "doing unto others" anymore, hurt that their life, their thoughts, their love is being swung around like a club, hurt that this big beautiful country has turned into a bunch of squabbling siblings who are hell bent on taking the other side down instead of building something better.
I'm not talking about how we're specifically voting; I'm talking about how we are acting. I care about how we are treating each other. Me included. I'm not just talking about during this election time; I'm talking about all the time. (Matt, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been that angry. I was wrong. Forgive me. -- But I'm standing by the whole "speaking in memes". Gag, okay?)
We are a community: my family, my friends, my neighbors, my small town, my church. WE are a community... this country. If this country is going to you-know-where in the proverbial hand basket, we're all going together, so why don't we all change course or at the least be civil during the ride.
My husband and I were discussing it while drinking our morning coffee and he asked me if I could imagine a local election playing out the way the national one is. If the candidates for mayor of our small town talked about each other and acted towards each other the way the candidates for the most influential office in this fine country do. If the supporters of those candidates treated each other the way we see supporters behaving in news interviews and on social media. Our tiny town would be irreparably damaged.
Families would be divided. Marriages compromised. Kids taunting each other on the playground. Churches coming apart at the seams. Hate and rage and fear would walk down the street with us everyday. Past the courthouse where we fly our deceased veterans' flags every Veterans Day. It would follow us down the aisle of the grocery stores where we'd hide behind the cracker display to avoid THAT person who thinks THAT way. It would follow our kiddos into the swimming pools where parents would usher their child to the other end because THAT parent is here and did you read what SHE said? It would put space between us watching the band at halftime at the football games. Instead of all of us waving that two finger high over our steering wheels, we'd be met with scowls and perhaps a middle finger wave.
Politics gets passionate. People feel so strongly about their interests and beliefs, so convinced they are right and the "other" school of thought is leading us off into the abyss that we rant and scream. And cry. We hate each other secretly and not so secretly. We believe "they" are self-serving, ignorant, naive, stupid and just plain wrong. We post funny little pictures that like-minded people comment "lol" or click the haha reaction on FB. We mock each other. We tear each other down a little at a time and turn ourselves into the very things we hate. Self-serving, ignorant, naive, stupid and wrong.
I understand the passion. I lay in bed awake concerned that this is where this country is right now. So divided and afraid and angry. And then I realize anger comes from hurt. Hurt about jobs lost, hurt about a way of life being made the butt of jokes, hurt that people don't seem to care about "doing unto others" anymore, hurt that their life, their thoughts, their love is being swung around like a club, hurt that this big beautiful country has turned into a bunch of squabbling siblings who are hell bent on taking the other side down instead of building something better.
I'm not talking about how we're specifically voting; I'm talking about how we are acting. I care about how we are treating each other. Me included. I'm not just talking about during this election time; I'm talking about all the time. (Matt, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been that angry. I was wrong. Forgive me. -- But I'm standing by the whole "speaking in memes". Gag, okay?)
We are a community: my family, my friends, my neighbors, my small town, my church. WE are a community... this country. If this country is going to you-know-where in the proverbial hand basket, we're all going together, so why don't we all change course or at the least be civil during the ride.
I'm too soft...
for this election. I am. I've found myself crying more times than I care to admit lately. The news makes me exceedingly anxious. Social media makes me feel completely disheartened. My faith in my fellow Americans has been shaken. Who the hell have we become?
My husband and I were discussing it while drinking our morning coffee and he asked me if I could imagine a local election playing out the way the national one is. If the candidates for mayor of our small town talked about each other and acted towards each other the way the candidates for the most influential office in this fine country do. If the supporters of those candidates treated each other the way we see supporters behaving in news interviews and on social media. Our tiny town would be irreparably damaged.
Families would be divided. Marriages compromised. Kids taunting each other on the playground. Churches coming apart at the seams. Hate and rage and fear would walk down the street with us everyday. Past the courthouse where we fly our deceased veterans' flags every Veterans Day. It would follow us down the aisle of the grocery stores where we'd hide behind the cracker display to avoid THAT person who thinks THAT way. It would follow our kiddos into the swimming pools where parents would usher their child to the other end because THAT parent is here and did you read what SHE said? It would put space between us watching the band at halftime at the football games. Instead of all of us waving that two finger high over our steering wheels, we'd be met with scowls and perhaps a middle finger wave.
Politics gets passionate. People feel so strongly about their interests and beliefs, so convinced they are right and the "other" school of thought is leading us off into the abyss that we rant and scream. And cry. We hate each other secretly and not so secretly. We believe "they" are self-serving, ignorant, naive, stupid and just plain wrong. We post funny little pictures that like-minded people comment "lol" or click the haha reaction on FB. We mock each other. We tear each other down a little at a time and turn ourselves into the very things we hate. Self-serving, ignorant, naive, stupid and wrong.
I understand the passion. I lay in bed awake concerned that this is where this country is right now. So divided and afraid and angry. And then I realize anger comes from hurt. Hurt about jobs lost, hurt about a way of life being made the butt of jokes, hurt that people don't seem to care about "doing unto others" anymore, hurt that their life, their thoughts, their love is being swung around like a club, hurt that this big beautiful country has turned into a bunch of squabbling siblings who are hell bent on taking the other side down instead of building something better.
I'm not talking about how we're specifically voting; I'm talking about how we are acting. I care about how we are treating each other. Me included. I'm not just talking about during this election time; I'm talking about all the time. (Matt, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been that angry. I was wrong. Forgive me. -- But I'm standing by the whole "speaking in memes". Gag, okay?)
We are a community: my family, my friends, my neighbors, my small town, my church. WE are a community... this country. If this country is going to you-know-where in the proverbial hand basket, we're all going together, so why don't we all change course or at the least be civil during the ride.
My husband and I were discussing it while drinking our morning coffee and he asked me if I could imagine a local election playing out the way the national one is. If the candidates for mayor of our small town talked about each other and acted towards each other the way the candidates for the most influential office in this fine country do. If the supporters of those candidates treated each other the way we see supporters behaving in news interviews and on social media. Our tiny town would be irreparably damaged.
Families would be divided. Marriages compromised. Kids taunting each other on the playground. Churches coming apart at the seams. Hate and rage and fear would walk down the street with us everyday. Past the courthouse where we fly our deceased veterans' flags every Veterans Day. It would follow us down the aisle of the grocery stores where we'd hide behind the cracker display to avoid THAT person who thinks THAT way. It would follow our kiddos into the swimming pools where parents would usher their child to the other end because THAT parent is here and did you read what SHE said? It would put space between us watching the band at halftime at the football games. Instead of all of us waving that two finger high over our steering wheels, we'd be met with scowls and perhaps a middle finger wave.
Politics gets passionate. People feel so strongly about their interests and beliefs, so convinced they are right and the "other" school of thought is leading us off into the abyss that we rant and scream. And cry. We hate each other secretly and not so secretly. We believe "they" are self-serving, ignorant, naive, stupid and just plain wrong. We post funny little pictures that like-minded people comment "lol" or click the haha reaction on FB. We mock each other. We tear each other down a little at a time and turn ourselves into the very things we hate. Self-serving, ignorant, naive, stupid and wrong.
I understand the passion. I lay in bed awake concerned that this is where this country is right now. So divided and afraid and angry. And then I realize anger comes from hurt. Hurt about jobs lost, hurt about a way of life being made the butt of jokes, hurt that people don't seem to care about "doing unto others" anymore, hurt that their life, their thoughts, their love is being swung around like a club, hurt that this big beautiful country has turned into a bunch of squabbling siblings who are hell bent on taking the other side down instead of building something better.
I'm not talking about how we're specifically voting; I'm talking about how we are acting. I care about how we are treating each other. Me included. I'm not just talking about during this election time; I'm talking about all the time. (Matt, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been that angry. I was wrong. Forgive me. -- But I'm standing by the whole "speaking in memes". Gag, okay?)
We are a community: my family, my friends, my neighbors, my small town, my church. WE are a community... this country. If this country is going to you-know-where in the proverbial hand basket, we're all going together, so why don't we all change course or at the least be civil during the ride.
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