So I've grown up in a suburban neighborhood- a cute little lake right down the street, neighbors of whom had similar cars, fluffy dogs...everywhere, kids riding their bikes (surprising enough to see kids still outside), track housing, decorations up for every holiday, etc. One thing I never noticed was how I was always just sitting under everyone else's opinions, in specific, political opinions.
When Thanksgiving came around, I'd always sit at the kids table. Not much was to be said about politics, but it was usually one sided as it is. Once the chatter was over, my family would usually wrap up the turkey, break the wishbone, and then **as i'd hope every year** we'd celebrate my birthday a few days early being that my family was all together. It was normal to me, nothing new. I never thought of what I actually thought, but why would I? Most kids pick of their political beliefs from their parents anyways, that's a know fact. Political Socialization, it exists.
I hit my first year of college, around a year ago now, and while college wasn't the source from which I drew my political opinions, it is where I began to open my mind to the world outside of my own suburban bubble. I wasn't interested in politics before then. In highschool (for me at least) I simply cared about memorizing definitions and making sure I could match a traumatic event in history to a specific date; while these aspects to learning are helpful, I wasn't actually switching a light bulb in my head. Simply stated, I was trying to get an A.
Down the street from my house was the elementary school I grew up on. Swing sets I'd fling myself off of, black tops I'd line up on to go back to class after recess, lunch tables I'd sit at and eat my pb&j sandwiches and tangerines, grass fields that all the kids would utilize to play tag, hunchback, or dodgeball on. We did typical kid things, but there was this one day that I said this one thing and I'll never forget it. Presidents week at school consisted of presentations on all of our nation's presidents, past and present, and somehow it turned every kid into an expert on politics (did we really even know what the term politics meant??? I definitely did not). One kid was talking about how his family was republican, and another how her mom told her she was conservative, and another how his dad told him they were liberal. And then silence, not a serious silence, just plain silence because none of us really knew what we were saying or how to continue the conversation. And then I chimed in, "My parents are Republican and so I think all the best people are and so I am one too." Logical thinking. To this day I do think the best people are still my dynamite parents, Tim n' Tracy, (get it...lol) but I no longer measure greatness by political affiliation. Many of our world's best souls lean right and many lean left. That's just how it is.
I'm not sure how many years back it was, probably around 2008, but when I sat at the kids table my aunt poured apple cider in all of our cups and then headed on over to the adults table. A brief break in the norms of conversation led to a moment of political discussion. From a kid's point of view, I saw everyone letting their food get cold and voices raising louder than the level that "inside voices" had permitted. Then my papa quieted everyone and they carried on with the stuffing and potatoes, some already going for the pie. What I didn't know had happened was a little debate of it's own had just taken place. I asked my grandma, "Nanny, what's a political debate?" She replied, "You don't need to worry about all that mumbo jumbo yet." And then she let out a soft smile and made her way to the kitchen to grab some birthday cake candles. Naturally, I dismissed everything that had just taken place because I was about to eat cake. So why did the kids in elementary school care so much to identify themselves as republican or democrat if we needed yet to worry about the 'mumbo jumbo' of it all? I guess we just wanted to be like our parents.
College taught me that I can see beyond my community, it showed me how my parents opinions are valid and if I choose to think differently from theirs, well then mine too are rational. College really emphasized how little I knew about the political world when I was younger, and how I really had no business trying to talk about it. College explained political socialization to me, a justification for the inheritance of political opinion amongst families.
I'm thankful that my little suburban neighborhood has room for me to express my thoughts in a judgement free zone. I'm thankful for the kids table, for allowing me to observe a glimpse of real life while maintaining my youthfulness. I'm thankful college helped to lead me further into understanding my reality.
I'm thankful for many things this holiday season, what about you?
