For weeks now, I’ve been singing “Wake me up when November ends” to the tune of “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” the 2005 hit by the rock band Green Day.
Several weeks ago, I overheard a coworker tell someone on the phone, “I don’t have many days when I want to go home and cry, but this was one of them.” A little earlier that same day, another coworker had expressed her own frustration to me.
I understood and could relate. I’d considered having a good cry myself but knew it wouldn’t solve anything. And it wasn’t just me and my coworkers. Several people I know have either left – or taken a break from – social media. Another friend recently expressed her desperate need to get out of her own head, seeking suggestions on how to do that.
Election season is finally over. Maybe now we can begin to heal. The ugliness of this election season became downright debilitating – both nationally and, sadly enough, locally as well. The vitriol that was spewed was both shameful and nauseating.
Friendships suffered, several past the point of return, and wedges developed among local church congregants and neighbors. And that’s a shame. These are the people we went to school with, the people we work with, shop with and worship with, the people we visit with at the ball games and in the local restaurants.
Politics has been ugly at the national level for some time and it’s sad that it trickled down to the point of leaching into our local races. What happened to civility and decorum? What happened to “love thy neighbor?”
I’m reminded of the 2003 song by the pop/funk/hip-hop band, Black Eyed Peas, called “Where Is the Love?” Google the lyrics and give it a listen. There’s a message there we could all stand hearing. We have to do better. We can and we should.
