I really hate to get political on the internet, but to put it as kindly as I can, it's getting crazy out there, y'all. I have vowed to leave names of politicians out of it, and it probably won't happen again. Probably. To protect the identity of this politician and much more importantly, to protect myself from political backlash, I am going to rename this candidate as just Bob. (I was originally going to make him “your Crazy Uncle Bob” but needed to dismiss any feelings that you had to love him).
The other day, I was eavesdropping in Starbucks, which is arguably where I do my finest eavesdropping, and I heard a girl justifying her vote for Bob, and it went a little something like this:
“Here’s my theory on it: When you hire a plumber, you want a good plumber who gets the job done well. You don’t care if your plumber is a bad person; you only care that he fixes the problems you have. Bob may be a bad person, but he is going to fix this country’s problems, so I will vote for Bob.”
While I am very concerned that she thinks Bob has the potential to fix America's problems, I am going to overlook this to get the heart of my message.
You should totally care if your plumber is a bad person.
You should not empower your plumber of questionable morals. If you have the best plumber in the world but he is racist, misogynistic, or ignorant (or maybe all of the above) and is going to use the power and funds you supply him to be cruel or hateful, maybe find the second best plumber in the world. I am not trying to tell you to not vote for someone because it doesn’t seem like you'd get along with them. Just because you can’t be best friends with someone doesn’t mean they’re bad. There are lots of people in this world I don’t particularly enjoy, who are fine people. There are people who don’t enjoy me, and jury’s still out, but it’s looking like I’m not inherently evil.
Back to the main point, you may think you don't care if your plumber is a bad person, but you do, and I can prove it in a word. Well, a compound word:
SeaWorld
Yeah, you freakin' hate SeaWorld, don't you? (Maybe not anymore since they promised to stop orca breeding or maybe you're still salty. But at one point, we were all really mad at them so work with me here.) Do you hate SeaWorld for its wonderful amusement park rides or its enchanting sea animal shows? No. It's because of their orca breeding. And that’s fine that you care. You’re allowed to hate SeaWorld. Honestly, at this point, it’s really uncomfortable to meet someone who doesn’t (or didn't).
OK, you got me. Maybe you don't care about SeaWorld, but there has to be some company or something you refuse to support on principle. Maybe you stopped eating Chick-fil-a to make a stand for LGBTQ+ rights. Maybe you refuse to wear Revlon because you are against animal testing. Or maybe it was something else that got you, like an actor or a clothing company.
If you can have integrity in the face of SeaWorld or chicken sandwiches or lipstick, you can maintain that enough to hire a plumber who won’t loot your silver or belittle your humanity no matter how well he fixes up your washing machine. And I have faith you can even maintain that integrity through this election season.
