It was a lovely evening.
I don’t do many girls’ night outs, mostly because I don’t have a lot of girlfriends. I never did. I like having one or two good friends but doing the group thing never interested me. Get a lot of women together and it is bound to be a disaster. But I had a lovely evening.
A new friend of mine had invited about 10 women to her home last night. We all sat in a circle around an enormous fire pit and the cocktails were flowing. This group of women came from different areas of the country, held different jobs, and had different political views. The one rule of the evening was no talking politics. Guess what we talked about?
I didn’t hear any hate speech. I heard an awful lot of understanding. It was refreshing to hear women discuss the issues regardless of what political side we were on. Many of us had crossed those party lines to vote for the candidate who would do the best job. And many of us agreed that political parties were doing more harm than good.
I’ve been carefully scrolling through my Facebook feed. Since I work in social media, I have to be on all day long. I don’t have the luxury to just turn it off. I am truly horrified by what I see. People who have preached tolerance and love and peace for years have become tornadoes of hate and intolerance. I understand where they are coming from – they are upset and angry. But to blame half a country because they don’t agree with you doesn’t make much sense to me.
We needed change 8 years ago and we got change. We needed change today… we got that too. Obviously it’s not the change many people wanted. But then again… there isn’t any political candidate for President that would please everyone.
The same people who shouted that we should ALL embrace our President 8 years ago are now decrying, “He isn’t MY President.” You can’t have it both ways. Our forefathers set up this system of the electoral college. I don’t know whether it’s a good thing or bad thing… but it’s OUR thing. If it isn’t working out anymore, we need to let our government fix it. Yes… OUR government. Because like it or not, our government is more than just our President. WE all get to vote for our representatives. I don’t see riots in the streets over those elections.
I believe we all live in bubbles… we each have our own little world. We also each have to vote for what is going to be best for us. Some of us are fighting for equality, some of us are fighting for our jobs. Hating on people who are fighting for what they believe in is NOT what makes our country great.
I’m embarrassed by my friends (and family) who have said such hateful things… on both sides of the spectrum. I believe this is a great opportunity (no matter who you voted for) to recognize the outright problems in our society and do something positive to fix them.
Yes… we have racial issues and gender issues and immigrant issues and economic issues and medical issues. Politics and our beliefs aren’t black and white (no pun intended)… they are gray. Very gray. I have Republicans and Democrats in my family. I have African Americans in my family. I have Chinese in my family. I have Israelis in my family. I have gays in my family. I have Latinos in my family. I have immigrants in my family. We are truly a melting pot. When someone only sees the color of my skin, they aren’t seeing me at all.
We foster the most change in our own homes, our own communities. Start by teaching your children that we are fortunate to have different views in this country we live in. Start by telling them that we might not agree, but we need to be respectful. Stop making them fearful of being deported or being persecuted. When we live with fear, we say and do stupid things. Don’t preach love and peace and then turn around and say half of the country is stupid. Look in the mirror.
We had barely finished counting ballots when there was a call for impeachment. He hadn’t even taken the oath of office and there were riots and petitions and plans to get him out before he even got in. What does all this make us look like in the eyes of the world? You can’t change the rules of the game because you didn’t like the outcome. You’ve got 4 years to figure out if you want to make up a new game… focus on that. Meanwhile, let’s turn lemons into lemonade and work together to make the next 4 years amazing. I want to see our economy boom. I want to see justices on the Supreme Court who follow our Constitution. I want to see the eradication of anti-semitism and racism. I want to see true equality for women. I want women to be able to do whatever they damn well please with their bodies. I want to see lower taxes and business come back to America. I want to see exceptional medical care available for every citizen without it causing families to go bankrupt. I want to keep my own doctor. I want to see college become affordable. I want to be able to start a business and still be able to obtain a mortgage. I want everyone to be able to get a job and get off government assistance.
If a group of diverse women can sit around discussing the issues calmly and find common ground, why on earth can’t everyone else.
It was a lovely evening.
