With national pizza day in our wake, it seems appropriate to bring a relevant issue to the forefront. As tension and fear become more prevalent around the nation, ironically, so does chauvinism and disrespect. It is in despondent times like these that the people of America, no matter what creed, have a difficult time seeing the good intentions in others. But even through the bigotry, all of us must remember that we, as human beings collectively stranded on this soaking rock, each have an implicit right to prefer whatever flavor of pizza our boat needs to float.

Blinded by confusion, which often becomes anger, we typically cast aside the opinions of those that differ from us, considering them to be lesser, or without merit. It is not until we step outside of our vanity bubbles that we can truly understand where a certain outlook comes from, and why it has just as much inherent value as any other. Say you only eat pepperoni pizza and have only eaten that flavor for your entire life; you’ve read articles on pepperoni pizza, and maybe even written some yourself on why pepperoni is the only flavor that anyone should ever eat. Then, one day, you meet someone who only eats barbeque chicken pizza, and has only eaten that for their entire life. In that situation, there are many who would immediately deem that person as nonsensical, casting their sentiment to the dumps as mere fallacy without inquiring as to why they prefer such a preposterous and piquant amalgamation of ingredients. The truth is, in order for us to grow, altogether and independently, we must learn to comprehend and interpret differences in morals from each other’s perspective. So, instead of sitting on the opposite side of the restaurant from the BBQ chicken chap, the pepperoni person could offer to buy them a glass of milk, get a table together, and make an effort to understand how the blaspheme came to adopt such a ludicrous conception of taste.

In a world of seven billion individuals, and counting, there are always going to be disagreements. No matter how many cheese-lovers push for peace amongst the toppings, there will always be enough anchovy lunatics for that to be a viable flavor. Before resorting to dismay and violence in an effort to right the “wrong”, recognize that there is a reason for such a preference, and that it has the same worth as yours. It is absurd to neglect the distinctions between the choices; sure, they are all pizza, but they all bring something new and exciting to the table. Learning to accept and regard those differences as akin to your own is how we will begin to thrive as a nation and take a seat at the bigger table.