Pouting and Contact Theory . . .

☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ X 2020

Dear you,


Yes, I am in a bad mood after that stupid debate last night.  What the hell was that?  Face-to-face trolling.  The Trump effect in plain sight once again, snarky comments and no information.  I need to learn how to live with MAGA-hat-wearers without getting heartburn because their reign (based on last night) might just be continuing.  How do I embrace them?  Is there an APP for that?  Some say Contact Theory is the solution, a theory that drifted into my soundscape while driving yesterday. I was listening to NPR (my driving in the Panhandle go-to soul saver) and the topic was our current political divide, the polarized American citizenry.  The speaker (forgive me for not recalling his name) logically analyzed the problem and noted it is not just about politics; the divide is bigger, broader.  Yes indeed, we do not “get” each other in everyday kind of ways.  The solution according to the NPR guest?  Contact Theory, the theory that the more we are around each other, the more we accept each other.  The “other” becomes part of the “we”.  Not so scary after all.

But does this work?  I have been immersed in the “other” for years now and I still want to pose the following questions to pretty much every person I meet:

Why denim and tucked-in plaid shirts?
Why tire-like running shoes that no one can run in?
Why burned animal flesh for food?
Why a boxy house and equally boxy car?
Why “hairdos”?
Why Toby Keith?
Why NASCAR?
Why bad posture and a puffy body?
Why the accent that clearly stigmatizes you on planet Earth?
Why t-shirts with annoying messages?
Why so many children?
Why plastic everything?
Why the “travel in packs” thing?


Or, better still:

Why not wear clothes that feel like silk and freedom?
Why not walk/run in sexy, pliable shoes?
Why not include avocados, raw fish, etc. in a meal?
Why not live in a loft space with inventive furnishings?
Why not keep the mane simple and clean (buns and ponytails rule)?
Why not anyone but Toby Keith?
Why not tennis?
Why not walk like a lion through this world?
Why not choose your own voice?
Why not avoid talking t-shirts altogether?
Why not choose to be singular?
Why not opt for green everything?
Why not revel in solitary pursuits?


So, back to Contact Theory.  Just a matter of knowing.  Just a matter of exposure.  Like, “Oh, the obese dude wearing the F*** Democrats t-shirt is not so bad after all!”    Now that I’ve shared zip-code, beach, and shopping space with variations of this dude, I can honestly say that Contact Theory isn't proving true in my situation.  My questions reflect my lack of really knowing “them”.  Still them and not we/me.  Exposure alone has not produced the expected outcome.  But I will keep trying!

So, as my “neighbors-they" would say, “turn that frown upside down”.  Okay, “honey”:

😊 X 2020


Signing off,

Love.

Your Joyce