𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨 𝐏𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬

This morning I’m reflecting on a conversation from this past weekend that could’ve gone sideways but didn’t.

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon at the Community Pavilion in the Huntertown City Park. We were at my niece's graduation party—a celebration full of blue and white, eighteen years of photos, and displays of achievements few earn in their short lives.

I sat at a well-used picnic table with my aunt, a staunch Democrat, and my dad, a red-hat-wearing MAGA supporter. And then there was me: right-leaning, but trying to use my brain, at least part of the time.

My aunt brought up Secretary Kennedy and started lamenting all the bad things he was doing as Secretary of Health and Human Services. As she launched into her soliloquy, I could feel the tension rising. My dad shifted in his seat. I knew where this was heading—I’d been here before, both as the instigator and the innocent bystander.

So I spoke up.

To my aunt, I said, “I don’t agree with much of your politics, but on this one, we’re in lockstep agreement.”

To my dad, I offered, “You don’t have to agree with everything a politician says or does just because you voted for them.”

That was it. No fireworks. No shouting. Just a moment of truth that seemed to short-circuit what was about to happen. We returned to celebrating my niece, talking about family members long gone, and having the conversations you expect at a family event, with everyone speaking with blue-stained lips from the bright blue frosting on the cupcakes we all enjoyed.

In our world of black and white, “Orange Man Bad,” and “I’m right, you’re wrong,” we should be looking for common ground. We should be promoting critical thinking—by all of us.

𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦.