Disconnects

This is embarrassing to admit, but I'm always a little surpised when someone disagrees with me on a big issue. I probably come by that quality naturally. My mom consistently described my dad as "convinced" when I was growing up as a more polite way of saying "he thinks he 's always right". Believe me, it is not a trait I admire in myself. I'm aware of it, and I work really hard to keep my mind open to other ways of viewing things...most of the time.

I had a healthy reminder of just this trait in myself during lunch yesterday. I was with two friends at Hoaglin's, a tiny Indianapolis gourmet food market at 49th and Pennsylvania (try the curry chicken salad).

We were discussing the presidential candidates and the election. Between my consulting gigs, I've had a lot of downtime time to live and breathe politics. And at this point I'm pretty sure there is nothing anyone could say to convince me that Bush needs another four years to:

1. Rub out what's left of our economic health
2. Use lies to get us into any more deadly foreign policy debacles
3. Finish squashing the civil rights of my family
4. Continue getting pimped out by the radical religous right

But for one of my friends Kerry's being Catholic and pro-choice was more troubling than anything else. She is Catholic. It was good for me to hear another perspective from someone else I respect and love.

Later, as I sipped bubble tea at my favorite coffee shop (Vecinos on Alabama St) I thought about how I needed to be reminded that not everyone sees things exactly the way I do, and that is probably a good thing.

We'll still start making plans to move to Canada if Bush is reelected, but for now I can bask in what is left of freedom in the U.S. and the value of multiple points of view.