Trick or Treat!
I had two interactions recently, and I thought they would make interesting "Scary Stories" for a Halloween post. I have a few actual real-life ghost encounter stories as well (maybe I'll post another time), but these seem much more relevant.
The first occurred last Friday as I was driving to work. I recently put an "Obama/Biden" sticker in the rear window of my car (I just can't commit to actually sticking something on my car... even my NPR sticker is a removable window decal) and seeing that happy little O as I walk towards my car makes me smile. It unfortunately had a very different effect on another commuter. As I was traveling down the highway, going a steady 65 miles per hour as directed by the speed limit signs, a silver car was coming up fast on my left. I saw him approaching in the rear view and didn't think anything about it, as I was not in the left lane and there was no one blocking his ability to blow past me. However, when he came up even with my bumper, he beeped. I'm not a big fan of gratuitous horn blowing, so I thought maybe something was wrong. I looked over my shoulder only to see him passing me: he was nearly turned around in his seat, eyes completely off of the road ahead and glaring at me, one hand on the wheel while the other hand was emphatically giving me a thumbs down sign...and he was sticking out his tongue. As I was not driving erratically, was not blocking the passing lane with my obsessive obey-the-speed-limit mentality, and there was no other aspect of my average-run-of-the-mill-Honda that could have elicited such a response, I must assume that this poor fellow was offended by my Obama sticker.
The second interaction occurred when I sent out a brief email to many friends, family and co-workers to inform them of Alana's Etsy store going live. It seemed a harmless email. I was not begging or badgering them to buy anything. I wasn't guilting them into supporting this cause. I just wanted to share the news and offer up an alternative to Christmas shopping at Walmart. A friend of mine quickly replied, not with any thanks or encouragement about the site or the cause but instead with criticism: they should be adopting US babies. When I replied that I was certain all options had been considered and this was the path they chose, I was then further informed that, if US babies are so hard to get they should adopt older kids in foster care.
Both of these situations struck me as offensive examples of one person holding so firmly to the belief that they are correct and everyone else needs correcting. They fail to see that diversity, and the ability to make our own best decisions, is fundamental to being human.
I know that there are people who truly believe that McCain/Palin is the right choice for this country (even though it's painful for me to even type that...). There are also people who feel strongly about the concepts of family: what makes a family, who it comprises, and how it's made. There are people who would say that I couldn't possibly love my step dad as a "real" father, even though he is the one who really raised me. There are people who vote party instead of issue, or vote on one single issue instead of looking at the political landscape as a whole (for instance, voting for someone who claims to be pro-life (read: anti-abortion) but sees no problem with capital punishment, turning a blind eye to genocide, or perpetuating/starting wars).
I can believe in my heart of hearts that those things are wrong and, if asked, I will explain why. But what I won't do is force my beliefs, opinions or ideology on others. I will not cast judgement on people or their beliefs because, frankly, who the hell am I to say what is or is not best for someone else? The best that I can do is to explore and evaluate my own belief system, strive to live up to it as best I can, and hope that by doing so I can reflect to others the strength of my beliefs. It makes a much better argument than sticking out my tongue and giving you a thumbs down.
Have a happy, safe Halloween!
2 comments:
I still can't believe what that person said to you. Honestly, we expect such comments to be directed to us, but not to our friends. Not that it helps much, but you weren't the only one to get negative feedback from someone. Another friend's coworker told her that we shouldn't be in the business of "buying babies." Buying babies! Some people are so ignorant . . . .
Hey! Sorry about the whole tounge and hand gestures thing. I get carried away sometimes. You have to admit that you were baiting me though. With that whole having beliefs and driving the speed limit stuff.
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