I was having breakfast with my family when my mom casually brought up the question, "So, have you voted yet?" I froze halfway through dumping my third package of sugar into my coffee. It was Feb. 21, the day after my birthday, which also happened to be the date of the Republican primaries. I glanced up to meet the eager eyes of my family, all proudly wearing their blue "I Voted" stickers. "Ugh," I stammered, suddenly becoming very interested in my coffee. "Not yet, but I will."
I hadn't lied, exactly, just left out the fact that I'd be voting a month later in the Democratic primaries. My family is old South, Southern Baptist, whereas I, on the other hand, "Feel the Bern." While we love each other, our political differences make for some inevitable awkward moments.
1. When your grandma says how nice it is to see a young Republican.
There is a time and a place for a political debate, and an eight-hour car ride with your grandma just isn't one of them.
2. When your dad asks who you're voting for and you try to think of which Republican candidate you dislike the least.
Definitely not Trump, though.
3. Listening to your to your family bash the candidate you're voting for and pretending to agree.
When it's 10 against one, sometimes it's best just to grin and bare it.
4. When you get into a political debate with your stepdad and you try to consider his viewpoint.
Even if you don't entirely agree with someone, it never hurts to look at things from their perspective.
5. And then when he completely disregards yours.
There is nothing more frustrating than talking to someone who refuses to look at things with an open-mind.
6. How your family reacted when they saw that Trump had won their state.
They laughed, they cried, they got a little jiggy with it.
7. How you reacted when you saw Trump had won your state.
You just cried.
8. The disappointment on your mom's face when you admitted you are voting for Bernie.
Hey, at least I care about politics!
9. When your grandpa says he doesn't understand why people are voting for Sanders and you want to defend him without causing a scene.
Choose your battles. Thanksgiving dinner of you versus 50-plus family members is not prime time to explain what Democratic Socialism is all about.
10. When your uncle raves on about what a great president Trump would be and you just don't know where to begin telling him how wrong he is.
Racist. Bigot. Hardly any political experience. And seriously, what is up with that hair?
11. When your aunt says you can't be serious when you say you'd vote for Clinton before you would Trump.
A Yale Law School graduate who served two Senate terms in the United States Senate and is a former Secretary of State? There are worse people that could be running the country.
All politics aside, you guys are family, and that's what really important.
