Fussing and Fighting
A blogger I follow, Paula Light, responded to an interesting prompt yesterday titled Truthful Tuesday 22nd November that was posted at Pensitivity101’s blog. The prompt was to share where you were or what you were doing when John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.
Paula talked about her first presidential election and shared a story about a co-worker at the time who was voting for the other candidate. Paula shrugged and didn’t say anything and the two remained friends. And then she asks, “Wouldn’t it be nice if things were that way now instead of people screaming at each other over differences of opinion?”
I think Paula’s question is an interesting meditation. Why are people so quick to judge and why are people so angry? Why are people intolerant of others and differences of opinion? Why will people throw away a friendship, or a love, over a difference of opinion? Why are people so easily triggered to anger that they’ll shoot another driver for cutting them off in traffic when it’s just as easy – actually easier – to just say, ‘Let ‘em go’ and get back to listening to music?
It’s easy to blame the media and partisan pundits and politicians, but I don’t think that explains it because I think for the most part, we’re smarter than to allow politicians, journalists, religious leaders, and “experts” to make our decisions. Or maybe I’m wrong and we’re not.
This is a beautiful country, ethnically diverse and culturally rich, and yet so unhealthy and full of distrust, intolerance, and hate. Why? What do you think? How do we fix it?
“We really should love each other in peace and harmony, instead we’re fussing and fighting.” – Bob Marley
Michael B. Fishman
Michaelsfishbowl 
Thanks for the shoutout! I really do blame “social” media for much of this, and that includes the news orgs, who depend upon clicks from people linking. It’s simply not that bad in person, even now, but online arguments get so nasty so fast, and it’s often impossible to stop the escalation once you’re involved. It’s very hard to step away and allow someone else to have the last word. Perspective is completely lost…
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You’re right about social media, Paula. It can bring out the worst in people.
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It’s a whole different world from what we grew up in. There was one nasty woman in front of me checking out of the grocery store last week. Checker looked at me and we just nodded–both of us too scared to say, ‘Geez Louise, lady–be nice.’ Quite honestly, I wonder who’s gonna follow me home for payback because they didn’t like what I said or how I looked at them. And then I get angry with myself for even thinking that way. What has become of all of us?!
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I think about that stuff too and wonder who might start shooting if I don’t slow down enough or speed up enough in traffic, or if I dare to honk the horn.
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Hi Michael,
thanks for contributing. Times have certainly changed and there is little tolerance for those who are ‘different’. I was an easy going child who accepted people as they were and made friends, or not, as a matter of course. Differing opinions were respected and my late FIL used to love to debate with me over a multitude of topics, sometime deliberately taking the opposite view to make things interesting.
Lois is so right about customers and checkout operators. We have been behind someone in a queue who has not said a single word to the member of staff processing their purchases, in one instance almost £200. We always make a point of engaging them in conversation as they do ours, after all, we’re not going anywhere else are we? I was shopping the other day and the operator asked me if I was OK as she hadn’t seen us for a while. How nice!
Have a good evening.
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It’s fun to contribute some and thank you for stopping by! I would have liked your FIL because I like to sometimes do the same thing. Not because I believe it but because it’s fun to be challenged to a different way of thinking about something. I can’t do that on all issues because some are black and white for me, but not all. I see the same thing here where customers are downright rude to grocery checkers and to the people who bag the groceries.
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Hi Michael.
FIL has been gone 20 years come January and I miss our ‘debates.’
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