This Is My Protest.

I was waiting in the car while my husband and daughter were checking out what the redbox had to offer our evening. As I watched people leaving McDonald's, I was struck by some very small things that really add up to very big things.

One mother of a 4-ish year old had to cross the path of the drive-thru to get her and her child to their vehicle. The child got distracted and lingered in the path of the oncoming cars. I expected the Mom to help the child hurry out of the dangerous place. But instead, she stood there watching the child play, and waited until the child came to the car on her own. Bear with me before you start telling me all the ways I'm judging this mom, who may have had great reasons for allowing her child to do whatever she wanted.

The next two people to catch my attention were a mother and son (I assume by their ages and familiarity with one another), the boy looked to be about 10. He had trash in his hand from his meal, and tossed it on an outdoor table as they walked by it. She saw him toss it, but both carried on their way.

This is more than just "I would have parented these children differently." This is an entire generation of parents who never do anything that is against their child's will. I can't say what has caused so many people to completely misunderstand the job description of "parent," but I can see that it is leading to the behavior we're seeing in the post-election protests. Tossing your trash anywhere you please is a small sign of the bigger problem that "someone else will take care of it." Waiting for your child to allow you to load them in the car is a small sign of the bigger problem that "you can do whatever you want, I'm here to serve you, not teach you."

I chose to take part in a post-election political survey that called my cell phone. I am ever so grateful that Statistics was a required class for my Undergraduate Degree, because it taught me how easily numbers can be manipulated to make it look like a desired outcome was achieved, and how the exact wording of survey questions can sway the results drastically. I am convinced that this particular survey was funded by someone who is in favor of the protests currently happening. I spent twenty minutes answering questions like whether I had "warm" or "cold" feelings about students having to pay back their college debt. Whether I thought Immigrants(I even made the caller repeat to clarify that he said Immigrants only, with no regard to whether he meant legal ones, or not) added to the cultural diversity of America. I chose from intentionally confusing lists about what exactly I do or don't like about Hillary and Trump. They wanted to know my race, ethnicity, religion, age, and so on. I understand there can be value in data and information collection, but the extreme manipulation of that information has become EXTREMELY out-of-hand.

I feel the professional media is manipulating information and spreading more hate than anything Trump has said or done. The media tells us a Trump presidency will cause hatred to grow. What I'm seeing is that the media is what's causing hate to grow.
(I know good people that work for my local media, and they are not personally to blame.)

 I can say that even the "conservative" news channels are far from representative of my views. But you know what? That's OKAY. I can choose not to watch them. I can choose to seek out opinions I agree with. I can choose what stories I strive to share on my social media to spread awareness. I can choose what my children learn while they live in my home. I'm frustrated because this attitude seems to be vanishing. It seems that most people just watch the news and go along with whatever society is feeding them at the moment. That is NOT okay.

Let's see what happens if we turn off the news and go outside of ourselves and BE KIND to other humans. If you are Muslim, and you are always kind, good things will happen, If you are not Muslim, but you are always kind to Muslims, good things will happen. Same goes for immigrants and women and any other people feeling unsafe "because of Trump." Go be kind. Staying inside your house because you are scared is a perfect way to keep you from being kind. Don't let it! When the news starts reporting on people doing KIND things and IGNORING the people doing hateful things, we'll know we're really getting someplace.
As for me and my house, we are going to go out of our way to be kind, kinder, and kindest. Please join us! #thisismyprotest #makeAmericakindagain


Today, our kindness was that we raked leaves for a friend who had shoulder surgery and couldn't do it herself. Comment with YOUR kindnesses!