Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (but only with people who agree with them)

For those who regularly follow this blog, you are probably aware that I tend to write as a form of therapy.  I've always done it but after Eddie’s death the need to express myself this way was overwhelming.

And while it may seem that I share much of my internal thoughts here, you have no idea how much I censor myself.  As comfortable as I have become with sharing my grief with the Internet, I have not completely shed my natural inclination to hold much of what I’m thinking inside.

Many times this is to spare you, the reader, from being offended or alienated by my writing.  I am ever conscious that not everyone shares my beliefs or opinions and just because I think it, doesn't mean I have to share it.

There was a point in my life when I thought it perfectly acceptable to get into drawn-out, sometimes heated discussions with people over politics.  After two different hurtful interactions when the debates became personal, I learned my lesson.  The lesson being that most human beings are close-minded and only care about their own opinion – regardless of how they will claim they are non-judgmental, open-minded and tolerant of everything, everywhere.  You cannot change a person’s mind or opinion.  They can only change it once they have allowed themselves to see through a different lens.  This is human nature.  Perhaps flawed, but human nature, nonetheless.

Besides, I've become politically apathetic, so steering clear of political debates is much easier for me than it used to be.

One thing I have noticed with my own personal journey is that I fall precisely where many people fall.  In my late teens & early 20’s I considered myself a Democrat.  As I matured, bought houses, started my career, worried about taxes and the economy, I was clearly more conservative.

And now, I find myself firmly, right smack in the middle with a growing resentment for both the far right and far left for screwing up the dialog for those of us who feel all common sense has been lost.

I bring all this up now because I witnessed a very interesting display of political intolerance the other night.  It brought home to me the collective unwillingness to understand that our divisiveness will, ultimately, destroy us.  I’m not trying to be overly dramatic.  History has taught us this lesson many times.

At its most basic it boils down to this - "I will only tolerate people like me."

That is extremely dangerous territory and I see it happening more and more from both sides.

I attended a gathering (a reunion of sorts) of people who attended Tucker High School.  Sister Barb graduated from Tucker and I went there for grades 8-10.  I knew very few people at the party as most were from Barb’s class but much fun was had by all and I met some new-to-me people.  I even got to see my all-time, favorite teacher, Coach Clark - 8th grade Georgia History.  

As is Barb’s way, we arrived exactly two minutes early and were, of course, the first ones there.  We grabbed a table and slowly, others made their way in.

Within seconds of each other two women arrived.  I didn't know either of them.  I am not exaggerating when I say these were the first sentences out of their mouths after the required squeals of glee, hugs and “Hey!!!”s.

First Woman:  “Can you believe I came?  I know I’ll be the only liberal here.  We’ll see how long I can take it.”

Second Woman:  “Oh God.  I parked next to someone with an Obama sticker on their car.  I hope they aren't with our group.”

Really?

First Woman had not seen any of these people in 40 years and this is the first thought to come out of her head?

Second Woman is bothered by a sticker on a car?

Go back a few years, true story – a member of my family had a Bush/Cheney sticker on their car.  They came out one morning to find someone had wiped dog poop on it and the driver's door handle.

As I write this, I am starting to question whether I am the crazy one.  Have things in this country really melted down to this level?  We can’t just attend a high school reunion with former classmates without knowing their political affiliation?

We can’t express our political affiliation on the back of our car without offending someone?

At the risk of sounding close-minded, here is what I think of your political opinions…

I don’t care.  And I don’t want you to care about mine.  Especially when the only thing we should be concentrating on is having fun with people we haven't seen in decades.

Is it too much to simply yearn for common sense and a polite society?

I guess I AM the crazy one.