Finding something in common

In today’s world, politics have severely divided the United States along party lines. Republicans and Democrats both believe the other has a nefarious intent. While it is true that both sides see solutions in drastically different ways, we must find something in common at every turn to *not* allow our country to be torn apart.

Just recently I arrived into Dallas / Ft. Worth International Airport, which traditionally has an accelerated immigration processing system. For whatever reason, that turned out to be the slower line out of the room. It was clear that the tensions among some where starting to run high. It must have been 10 people that I spoke with to say, “I do not care who you voted for in the last election, but I do very much hope you had a good vacation.”

What is interesting about this, was that it basically forced each of us to find something in common, in our case, it was this stubborn line, but I could see in each person that I spoke with almost a sense of calm where I wasn’t planning to attack them (left or right) on their political beliefs but rather our common situation. We would talk for a few minutes about their vacation and both sides could smile.

My true hope is that just one person out of those ten, replicated these comments and said the same to another. In 2018, there are forces that want to divide the United States, as such we cannot have enough items / traits / experiences that pull us together. We need it as a country.