His cigar smoke would waft through the neighborhood. That smoke was most assuredly followed by a hearty laugh which meant that he and Dad had just cracked a political joke, most definitely at the expense of the democratic party. I was young, only nine years old, but I remember one conversation with our neighbor.
The sun was setting; the sky was spread with hues of pink and orange, contrasting with the darkening mountains. His carefully manicured lawn tickled the bottoms of my dirty feet. A smell of freshly cut grass mixed with that rustic stench of his cigars filled the air.
He and my dad were standing next to three tall evergreen trees, and our cows were mooing in the distance, hoping for one last serving of hay before the night fell. It was late, probably 10 p.m. or so, yet the sun still clung to the sky, reluctant to finally leave. It was a typical Montana night. We had just walked the sheep, and it was time for Dad’s nightly visit with our favorite neighbor. Us kids decided that they had been talking too long and made our way up the hill across our house. Our dad’s tall frame was lit by the light of the wood shop that smelled even more pungently of cigars. It was hard to see, but the familiar sounds of our dad’s snorting laughter and our neighbor’s voice guided us.
He and Dad were talking about Bush and Kerry.
“Why can’t everyone just be a Republican?” I asked.
It seemed simple enough. Why couldn’t everyone see things our way?
“Because, in America, we have two wings. And those wings work together. That’s one of the great things about America,” he said.
I was too young to completely understand that at the time. I was a sponge, soaking up the opinions of those around me.
That was over a decade ago. And those words still ring true. Perhaps they are more relevant now than ever.
Trump just got elected and I am terrified and just a little bit relieved. It’s like being stuck in a pit. There are two possibilities of getting help, one is a slippery rope, and the other one is barbed with shards of glass. Basically, you aren’t going to be able to solely rely on either rope, regardless of which one is given to you. So when you’re handed that slippery rope, you know darn well you are going to fall if you don’t start using your feet immediately. You might be thanking God that your hands aren’t getting ripped to shreds by the glass, but you can’t for a second relax while holding that slippery rope. There is one other person in the pit. He asks you why the hell you didn’t take barbed rope with shards of glass. After all, aren’t you just going to slide right off? You fight for a while, but then you realize that you both have good points, and that together, you can make it out of that pit. He pushes you up, and then when you get to the first ledge, you reach your hand out and return the favor. It’s tough, it’s hard work, there’s sweat in your eyes. But, together, you make it.
We, as a nation, just got passed a slippery rope. We aren’t going to survive if we don’t dig our heels into the side of the pit and work hard for our survival. We can’t rely on the rope in the same way that we once were able to.
I am really conservative; that’s probably rare for female twenty-somethings of this day and age, however, I am. And I want my fellow Republicans, my fellow conservatives, my fellow Christians especially, to stop acting like Trump getting elected is a dream come true. His feet are too small to fill the shoes that Reagan and Jefferson once filled. His words are too brash to deliver the speeches that Lincoln delivered. He’s not really fit to be POTUS. He’s not a good representative of what America should be about. I know that for any conservative, the election of Hillary would have been a nightmare. However, Trump really shouldn’t be on the pedestal he has been put upon. He’s wrong about Mexican immigration and he got away with sexual harassment, not to mention how he flip flopped all of his convictions to be elected president.
I think it’s time to put on our three-corner hats again. It’s time to be that nation that is made up of fearless men and women who stand up for the country they want to be a part of. Remember, this country is of the people and for the people. We need a leader, and I will respect him as President because we all know an anarchy doesn’t work. However, we do not have to be, and should not be, satisfied.
It was probably late September of this year that I made the decision to be a more active citizen, a more intentional human. I decided that despite the outcome of the election, I was going to do my part to make life better for me and my community. I am going to dig my fingernails into the side of the pit until my fingers are stained with dirt. I am going to press my knees into the gravelly soil until my knees bleed. I will pull myself up, and then I will reach out and help others.
This country can’t be about political parties anymore. Let’s return to our melting pot roots. A melting pot of cultures and ideas. This doesn’t mean we have to condone anything that others come up with, but let’s listen. Just listen for a second, let’s hear the other side, and try to understand where people are coming from. Let’s work together; after all, we need two different wings to fly.
