I rarely talk about politics. There are a select few people who know who I voted for or what political party I associate with. I tend to keep politics off of social media and the only political views acquaintances, classmates and coworkers usually hear are the details that spill out in conversation. So I just want to explain why now, with the election finally over.

I think my answer will be pretty obvious. Political discussions can be toxic and, sometimes, even hateful. I want to make sure that the people I am discussing politics with are willing to hear my side and I’m always willing to listen to theirs.

This doesn’t mean I’m more well-rounded than anybody. Actually, the opposite seems to be true. I find that if an acquaintance or a stranger gets in my face about politics, I probably get more angry than they do. So, I try to keep myself in check by talking to friends who aren’t going to change their feelings toward me based on politics, and vise versa.

This might not be a perfect system. Sometimes I’ll see something on social media that drives me crazy. Something that I just feel like I need to respond to. So far, I think I’ve managed to keep myself in line. It’s only a matter of time until I crack.

But it seems that I’ve done well, particularly now in the aftermath of a very strange and very divisive election. There are extremely passionate people on both sides, and arguments are getting at best heated and at worst physically violent. Biting my tongue was hard, but at least I’m not caught up in that mess.

This doesn’t mean that I’ve completely avoided political arguments. Arguments happen sometimes, it’s a part of life. Without arguments life would be pretty boring. I have managed to keep these offline, however, and I can say that I (thankfully) have not lost any friends over the past couple of months.

There is one thing I think people should be called out for. Who are the people that voted for Harambe? Harambe’s dead and his meme is too. What kind of grown adult wakes up and thinks, “Haha, I’m going to vote for Harambe. Pranked, baby!”