I have something to say. And it’s not up for debate. So, if you’re looking for a fight, bye Felicia. #notkidding

Tomorrow, whether you are celebrating, weeping or indifferent, I hope that you will consider your favorite sports. Yep. Sports. And yes, as much as I like to see my kids play, I know that I am the farthest thing from an athlete so sports analogies aren’t my thing. #giraffeonrollerskates

Think about your FAVORITE sport. You LOVE IT. You are a die hard fan. You bleed their colors, your personal schedule revolves around the game schedule. You travel to see them. You make sacrifices. #notafairweatherfan

And you know what my favorite moments are on a ball field? At the very beginning when the captains meet and shake hands, when the participants (players, entertainment, coaches, everybody) do the traditional things associated with the league and game (be it the anthem or announcing players) and at the end when the little league kids or grown ass professional adults look at one another, shake hands and say “good game.” And my favorite, although I hate to have the opportunity for it, is that when one person is hurt, they all take a knee and a hush comes over the crowd. Because even if someone’s coach is being an asshat or a player is being a jerk, no one with any damn sense skips around the field screaming “Wahoooo!! He broke his leg!” #seriously

And here’s the thing about sports and life…there’s a winning team and a losing team. Always. But nothing lights a fire under a parent, coach or a spectator faster than disrespect of the game and the players. Your kid is the one who didn’t shake hands? Someone flaunting their victory in their opponent’s face? Playing dirty? Sore loser? Mean winner? Doesn’t matter whether it’s the other team or yours, it pisses you off, doesn’t it? Talk about a Momma Bear rushing a field! “You turn your butt around and you shake hands if you want to ever see the light of day!” When your team wins, do you call up 200 of your friends and gloat?  Do you tell them that their techniques and plays were all wrong?  When your team loses, do you kick the water cooler over and pout and refuse to shake hands? No. You don’t. Because chances are, you’re going to play them again. And there’s no guarantee of the same outcome. #dontmesswithMomma

The internet, specifically social media, gives us a platform to put our beliefs out there if we so choose, name call, judge, make fun of and generally be nasty all while comfortably at home in our pjs where we have to look exactly ZERO people in the face. I hope that today and tomorrow and all days you will consider your tone. For months, I have been tempering mine. See, my team lost this time. And I desperately wanted to kick the water cooler. Hard.  Still do. But I didn’t.  And I won’t.  I didn’t even put my views out there because I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of the nastiness that so many have been dishing out by the heaping spoonfuls. People who I have known and respected for years are tearing folks down in droves…

I’m more liberal than not BUT I have my very own individualized opinions on specific issues. My opinions don’t always line up with my party.  And I don’t know enough about some issues to have an opinion.  And that’s ok.  All of it. My Papa Odis (a WWII veteran, mind you) always said to vote for the person, not the party.  I think that if he were here today, he would apply that to issues as well.  Push for what you’re passionate about.  And what I’m passionate about probably isn’t the same as yours.   The twist that makes life interesting is that many of my friends have polar opposite political views.  Some might think it keeps life interesting but it just causes me to bite my tongue a lot.   As a result, I don’t talk politics with some of my nearest and dearest.  It can be lonely…but in this case, lonely works.

And if that’s too much to ask, I hope that you will imagine that your Grandmomma (or one of MY southern grandmas) is standing next to you. Would you say the things to someone in person with your Grandmomma present that you say TO one another or worse, ABOUT one another online? I hope not.  If you knew  either of my MaMas (rest their souls), you’d quickly understand where some of my sass comes from…but as sassy as I am, I learned a host of other things that I hope make up for it a little…kindness, respect, compassion, empathy, hardwork, dedication, how to be a good friend and neighbor.   I am genuinely hopeful not to lose friends based on this election. But I’m weary. People aren’t choosing respect. Not listening. Just sitting back, sharing their opinion and crucifying any and every person that doesn’t agree. I’d hoped it would improve after election day but instead I’m seeing players in life skipping around the fields taunting the kid with a broken leg and others kicking over water coolers.

There is a little glimmer of hope…I do see a few running out to help that injured player and a couple cleaning up the mess from the water cooler incident and a few more lining up their team on 3rd base to shake the hands of their opponents. I see teams scheduling additional practice time and lessons and reading about how to improve their techniques and policies for their team and for the league and for the sport…and people (myself included) are TRYING to be more involved in the overall process to TRY to make things better, to be heard, to respectfully express our opinions out loud and have healthy discussions where it’s acceptable that the end result is agreeing to disagree (even though I’d much rather be eating chips and salsa on the beach). #bethehelpers #standup #facilitate #salsathough

It’s disheartening that there seems to be so few but you know what? There ARE a few. And those are my people. I see you.  I am you.  I hope you haven’t had to temper.  But if you have and you are cleaning up the water cooler mess, I’ll be right over to help…just as soon as my kid and I respectfully shake all the hands and check on the kid who left on the stretcher.