I'll be your friend

 

I want you to stay and read this post.

But I'm afraid to give you the topic because it chases people away.

OK, OK. I'll do it.

It's about poli -- DON'T RUN -- politics.

Well, really, it's about friendships and politics, but the orange dude plays a significant role. You know: T***p.

Here's the thing. More than once over the past four years, and most definitely in the past four days, have I seen people say the following:

"If you voted for Trump, I don't want to know you."

"You're complicit if you voted for Trump."

"****you if you voted for Trump."

And so on.

Which, OK. Sure. But the thing is, that statement says more about you than anything else.

I don't care who you voted for. If you're my friend/family member then that's it. I care more about how you treat me or my son or my friends or my family than I do who you voted for.

Even if you voted for Trump and still support him after this awful week, I'm still not going to toss you aside. I might have a heavy eye roll for you, but that's the way it goes.

But I might have a heavy eye roll for you for lots of reasons.

Funny thing in life. We're allowed to disagree and, if we're really being smart, to not talk about those disagreements if we can't handle that conversation.

Which, more often than now, we can't. There's a fundamental lack of respect, especially when hiding behind a keyboard.

Such is the reason I don't get deep into a lot of disagreements with people. I mostly shake my head at the myriad idiocy I see daily. I also have a close circle that acts as my clearinghouse for the airing of grievances.

Or, sometimes, Rascal listens to me. Then he yawns, meows, bathes himself, and goes back to sleep. Because he's a cat.

Hell, you can hate The Beatles, like the Red Sox, and think Waffle House is disgusting. I'll still love you (admittedly not as much but that's the chance we take in life).

As I've written, I've watched friendships collapse over this nonsense. And, guess what? Most of it IS NONSENSE.

No, people dying on Wednesday wasn't nonsensical but it was brought about due to nonsense.

(And then there's #Gsense, which is a special shorthand for nonsense that I've started using on Twitter. I highly suggest you join me to get that trending!)

See, I go all-in on a debate when I know it can be handled. For example, Chris Erway, Ryan DeMaria, and, yes, even Chris Kaelin can argue with me about anything. At the end of the day, they're still my friends and that's why we were quite good on the radio.

In so many other cases, I've gotten so much better at just...letting...it...go. You're right. Babe Ruth sucked. The NFL needs a minor league. Nickelback is truly brilliant.

But to tell someone I don't want you in my life because you voted for a maniac? No, I can't do that. Maybe I'm wrong, and you're entitled to that opinion.

Because isn't that the deal? Isn't it an opinion? Aren't we entitled to opinions?

Opinions are really wrong necessarily. They're sometimes foolish (again, consider the "Babe Ruth sucked" option).

You think "Jack and Diane" is an American pop classic masterpiece. I look for any length of rope to put myself out of my misery. Agree to disagree. 

So I really think the problem is you -- the one with the obsession. You're the one who is saying these divisive things -- who needs to look in the mirror.

You're, frankly, part of the problem, to use an often-overstated line of the day.

I'd tell you that I don't want you in my life if that's how you behave, but we all know better. Because, at the end of the day, I believe you're better than that.

I believe that we're better than all of this.