Skip to main content

2016, November: How to not be an ASS about politics on social media

Hello. It's your lovely British-American friend here. I never post about politics. I rarely talk about politics (though my husband does - usually enough for both of us and then some). This will probably be my one and only vaguely political post, and hopefully it won't lose me too many friends.

I voted this morning. It was my first US presidential election, and I think you'll agree that it was a pretty shitty one. I'm not going to tell you who I voted for. I'm a strong believer in the idea that you never ask anyone about their politics, religion, or salary. If you want to disclose your beliefs that's absolutely fine with me, but I'm not going to. I am, however, going to provide some general tips about how to behave during election season (which currently seems to last about 400 years):
  1. If you are passionate about the candidate you will be voting for and feel the need to share, then by all means DO tell me (and the internet) who you voted for and why. I am interested to hear your honest and personal reasons. However,
  2. DO NOT belittle, ridicule, shame, harass, or otherwise act in a hostile manner to those who are voting for someone different. There are intelligent people whom I respect on all sides of the current political debate - trust me, there are (if you don't believe that, then you are part of the problem). You will immediately lose my respect if you act like everyone with a different opinion than you is stupid. I am seeing a lot of this on both sides. Stop it.
  3. DO NOT assume that you know who I am voting for based on external factors (I work in the arts, I am a woman, I am from England, I am a parent, etc., etc.). One of the many reasons I was happy to leave Baltimore/DC is because I was sick of the constant political conversation and especially the arrogant attitude that everyone in the room feels the same way. This is probably my single greatest pet peeve about politics in general. Unless I have told you my opinion about something, do not assume that you know it.
  4. If you are passionately encouraging others to vote, even to the extent that you are offering to pay to get people to the polls, then DO think carefully about that. Will you still pay that person's taxi fare to the polling station if they are voting for the other candidate? Will you still yell and scream about how it is my patriotic duty to vote and that I'm truly a horrible person if I decide not to if I am in favor of the other person? Really? If yes, then go you. You're a pretty awesome person.
  5. And finally, it would probably be best if you DO NOT write a blog post telling other people how to behave. Oops.
America is awesome. I chose to become an American two years ago and regardless of who wins today, I DO NOT regret that decision. Let's all just practice a bit more tolerance, respect, and humility. Take a moment. Breathe. Georgina xoxo

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Successful Trip!

I turn 40 this week. Yellowstone National Park is one of my favorite places in the world, so I decided we should go spend the weekend in the park for my birthday. As we got closer, I discovered I wasn’t really looking forward to it. Both kids are exhausting at the moment, and Ophelia especially does not do well in the car. Or in the cold. Or in any situation where her indecipherable needs are not being met. When I saw that thunderstorms were forecast all weekend, I almost canceled. But we’d paid a deposit on the cabin so we decided to take a chance and see what happened.  Well. The weather worked out almost perfectly and the kids were amazing! They handled all the time in the car, they hiked, they even (mostly) behaved themselves in a fancy restaurant. Ah. Maze. Zing.  On day one, we headed up to West Yellowstone and had our usual giant pancake lunch before venturing into the park. Then we drove down to West Thumb geyser basin, where both children managed to a) n...

2016, September: 100 Words

Declan reached 100 words today. (Realistically, he probably reached this number much sooner, since there are undoubtedly words that he uses at daycare that I haven't heard yet.) It's been a fascinating journey to experience. At his 15-month doctor appointment he had maybe five words. Now, at 19 months, he has at least 100. His speech has exploded with new words arriving almost every day. He knows colors, shapes, animals, vehicles... and SpongeBob, embarrassingly. (The full list of his first 100 words is below.) 100 words is a lot, but a long way from being enough for effective communication. This progression, and Declan's frustration when he cannot make us understand what he wants, has me thinking a lot about language development and about how many words would be enough? I've followed the Nieder family blog / Facebook page for many years now. I discovered them long before I had a kid, long before we even thought that children might be in our future. I don't re...

Bye Bye, Baby

We said goodbye to the bottle tonight. Which means no more baby bottles in this house ever again! We’ve been getting rid of baby stuff for a while now. In March we donated/sold the stroller, baby car seat, high chair, and play pen, and I’ve been happily ditching a bag or two of baby clothes every few weeks. I haven’t felt sad or sentimental about any of it. I love getting rid of stuff (I am married to a hoarder , after all), and I do not miss the baby stage since I found it so damn hard. But something about the end of the bottle gave me pause. I had such trouble feeding both of them, from my breastfeeding woes with Declan to Ophelia’s failure to gain weight , that the bottle has been a huge focus in our lives for over four years. When Declan was our only child, I never understood all of the parents bemoaning how quickly time was passing. I just didn't feel it. Once Ophelia arrived, however, all of that changed. Time now flits away without a care and I feel like I'm missing...