Apparently not everyone, post election, wants to be friends and come together. Some seem to want tit-for-tat. During the campaign, supporters complained that one of the candidates was a racist and sexist because of his language and attitudes. Now, these same finger-pointers are engaging in name-calling and marching the streets to protest the President Elect. How now are they any better?
When my Bean was ready to move on, to extend the laurel branch to one and all, even her like-minded friends spoke against her. She understood what they were saying, but she refused to engage in hatred of the others. Just because one side did it doesn’t make it right for the other side to do it back. Two wrongs, and all that. So, in an attempt to separate herself from the hatred, she left Facebook. Now she has just me and the other dollies here for company, since even many of her personal friends have turned away, determined to continue with their anger and hatred. They seem to have sunk lower than the person to whom they now direct their anger. How did this happen, this great divide?
I get that this is a hard time for everyone. It is for my Bean, too. She’s mad that things didn’t go the way she hoped, but she’s also deeply saddened and hurt that people seem to believe that friends must think exactly alike to be friends, and that because others once hated us, we must now hate back. Nope. Not true.
A friend can sympathize with how you feel, even when they don’t feel the same. A friend should be able to say “there-there, it will be all right” without having her head bitten off because the other doesn’t think it will be and turns against you simply to prove her point. A friend holds out her hand in a gesture of friendship, not merely to those she’s always known and cared about, but to all who need a friend … or at least a friendly gesture.
How can America, the great “melting pot” (or “salad bowl” if you will) merge into a cohesive country working together for the good of the people when its people are still so divided; how can we ever get back to reaching across the fences in our own neighborhoods, much less to those who are “other” than us yet have the same rights; what can we say to those who feel left out, alone, and hated? And what will they say to us?
So many people profess to embrace religious teachings, which for Christians includes “love one another,” yet are out in the streets with signs and on Facebook with venom pouring through fingers to keyboards and buried deep in their hearts. Where is compassion for others? Where is kindness? Where is friendship for our fellow citizens? Isn’t our country for everyone, for all the people, and not just for the few? Have we all partaken from the barrel of poisoned apples?
Words can break hearts.
Words can break the heart of a country.
Snippets 
There, there, it WILL be all right. Leaving the discussion, however, will only allow the loudest and craziest to prevail. So, take a break AND a breath. Speak where you will be heard and appreciated. Continue your acts of friendship and comfort to those holding out a hand. Remain committed to civil discourse. Be the cranberry in our “salad bowl” – sweet AND tart, adding just the right touch. Peace.
LikeLike
[Snip here] Thank you, Mad for the Farthing Crowd. I think being the cranberry in a salad bowl is perfect! I am a bit tart, but I’m friendly and blend well with others. Personally, I shall not take a break, but my Bean needed one. Sometimes the craziest things get to her, despite being quite a staunch and stable person. Most of the time. For example, she actually dyed her hair pink. Yup. She said it was to make herself feel “in the pink,” but I’m not sure… However, we carry on and are definitely committed to being civil while standing for what we believe in. But no rocks, no nasties. We play nice. Uh-oh – Bean says that should be “we play nicely.” She is a grammar nut.
LikeLike