Now that the US party conventions are wrapped up and the balloons have been popped… Now that we’ve witnessed every emotion imaginable… Now that we’ve got only a little over 3 months until Super Tuesday…

 

Please, please, please – can we try to be decent human beings? Can we give that gift to each other and to ourselves? Can we try to remember that just because we have different opinions, we are still in this together, quite literally? If I’m in the same auto shop as you and we are on opposite sides of the political river, can we still be civil to one another as we sip our free coffee and talk about life?

 

Here’s the deal, y’all. Regardless of your political affiliation, I want your kids to have a good, decent life. I want them to run through sprinklers in the summer and to play in leaves in the fall. I want them to marvel at winter and to pick flowers in the spring. I want all kids to have a chance to live their lives, with youthful jubilance and curiosity. Not just the kids of my friends, but all kids. In fact, how about all us kids – big and small – get a shot at a good life. How about we do it with respect for one another. How about we acknowledge our differences, then remember our similarities. Can we do that?

 

Unless you’re wearing clothing that tells me your party affiliation, why on earth would I look at you and judge you as being different from me? I mean, if you’re standing in line in front of me, waiting for doughnuts, about the only thing I’m likely to be thinking is please don’t get the last creme-filleds! And even if you are sporting a t-shirt or a pin that represents your choice of candidate, so what? You like doughnuts? Me, too! You like creme-filleds? Me, too! And please don’t get them all!

 

I know you may have strong feelings about this upcoming election. I do, too. The strongest. But hating one another won’t serve either of us. And it won’t help us as we go about our day-to-day business in our towns and communities. You hating me will not help either of us get through the paint line more quickly as we shop at the ghetto Home Depot. Me hating you won’t benefit anyone attending the charity dinner where I and others have cooked for good, decent people. In short, hate won’t help us. It will drag us down. It will eat away at any goodness we’ve stored in our hearts. It will eventually destroy us. But it won’t  help us. Not now. Not ever.

 

So when you and I are out in the world, when we’re just trying to make those ends, when we’re trying to pay our bills and maybe fit in a little fun here and there – can we please, at the very least, show each other a modicum of respect during our encounters? Can we please remember that we are all more similar than we ever seem to notice? We all have to pay the rent. We all have to figure out what the kids will eat. We all think that the price of gas is too high. We all run out of toilet paper. When you get down to it, we really are more similar than not. Our minds alone take us down different paths. And that’s okay. We’re meant to think. We’re meant to opine. We’re meant to figure things out for ourselves.

 

But we are also meant to feel. And we are meant to strive. I cannot imagine striving for less than we are capable of being. And I promise, despite our differences, we are capable of being better. Period.

 

So if our paths should cross during this heated political climate, I tell you now that I will do my best to address you from the heart. (Because honestly, that’s how I do.) And even if you’re about to buy the last of the creme-filleds, I won’t hold it against you.

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