The other day I told Jenna it was time for bed to which she replied, “You are mean to me, I’m going to live with my friend Sophia.” Mean to her? Are you kidding? My hands were red at the time from spending 30 minutes de-coring and cutting about a million strawberries to be just the way Jenna liked them and she was telling me how mean I am. Well I am sure Sophia’s mom would not mind a fifth child.
The concept of being nice versus mean is a common theme in our house these days. My 3-year-old likes to point out the injustices of her life by declaring them “mean” such as no candy for breakfast and having to take a bath every day. She has also experienced some true life “meanness” such as the little girl who yelled “NO” when Jenna asked her to play at the park. Jenna just shrugged it off and told me the girl was a “stinky head.” I explained that the girl was not nice yelling at her but that it was also not nice for Jenna to call her a name. These small moments wound me as a mother but I know I have to teach Jenna how to navigate her way in the world and “not sweat the small stuff” such as that b*tch on the playground (just kidding of course). We expect these things from kids. After all, they are just kids. What I cannot get over lately is how mean and nasty adults are, especially behind the protection of the internet.
With the presidential election only a couple weeks away, the political posts on Facebook are multiplying like rabbits. I watch the propaganda videos posted by friends on both sides of the political spectrum. I read the posts about how their candidate kicked ass in the recent debate. For the most part, I find the Facebook-political-post brawls interesting and sometimes hilarious. What I don’t find so hilarious is how ugly some people are to those who do not share their beliefs. The comments are downright cruel. My mother recently posted something about her candidate and one of her friends wrote, “you made me vomit” in the comments. Seriously? You felt compelled to offer those words of wisdom? I am at a loss as to why people feel so threatened by opposite points of view. If you want to post that you think Barak Obama is the best President since Abraham Lincoln that is your right. But don’t call Romney supporters “douchebags” (and yes, that is a direct quote from Facebook) for thinking Obama has done a lousy job as president. You think Obama is screwing up this country? Fine, but don’t call his supporters morons for liking his position on healthcare.
Call the candidates all the names you want. Trash their policies. Ridicule their speeches. They subjected themselves to this scrutiny when they decided to step onto the national stage and run for the most powerful position in the world. I don’t think it is particularly productive to name call and trash opposing views, but if you feel that strongly about it – go for it. But the ugly attacks on people who don’t share your political beliefs need to stop. They are just mean.
Discussion and debate are good things. It makes life interesting. It would be boring if we all shared the same beliefs. These are tough times and there are no easy answers to the problems this country faces. But if you think your way is the only way, our country has much bigger problems than whether Barak Obama or Mitt Romney is going to be the next president. Let’s try not to act like 3-year-olds.
