Stories of dignity and grace are everywhere; we need to tell them more

Washington Examiner ^ | April 5, 2023 | Salena Zito

[Twotone]

BEDFORD, Pennsylvania — From across the curved chestnut bar in the sprawling lobby of the Bedford Springs Hotel in this central Pennsylvania town, it was hard not to be drawn into the conversation between Christopher Ege, JoAnn Harrison, and her husband, Dan. Given their animation and laughter, one might have assumed all three had known each other for years and clearly shared a lot in common.

As they discussed trips they had made to Kentucky to visit the iconic Bourbon Trail while contemplating the bourbons on hand, the discussion went from the history of the Buffalo Trace distillery to politics. It became clear that the Harrisons' views were clearly progressive, JoAnn much more than Dan, whereas Ege was solidly conservative.

Then something that would be considered remarkable or perhaps even unheard of in today’s news coverage of political polarization happened: nothing. Even after politics had entered the conversation, they kept on laughing, kept on discussing their differences. The Harrisons voted for Biden, Ege voted for Trump — and they kept on having a grand old time.

In short, they had a rational conversation about polarizing issues and behaved with grace and humor — something our cultural elite assures us does not exist.

Two things stood out after meeting Ege and the Harrisons and eventually joining them. First, they weren’t lifelong friends as I assumed; they had only met 15 minutes before I sat at the bar — and because they had gotten on so well, it took some convincing from them that they had truly just met.

And second, despite wildly different points of view being discussed between the three of them — on contentious issues such as guns and abortion — no one stomped off in a tiff, no one raised their voice with expletives, nor was anyone offended.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

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[cyclotic]

My wife and I were at a restaurant in Louisiana a few weeks ago and saw the same thing. The three guys next to us were having a great meal together, laughing like old buddies. Ao=t one point one of them apologized to us for being too loud. I told them they were fine and found out they just met. All three were truckers.

I mentioned that one of our sons was a trucker and we became part of the conversation. One of the guys was black. Another guy made some joke that could have been taken as racial.

I said “Wow, y’all have been friend for 20 minutes and you’re already making black jokes?” which got the great laugh I expected.

I wish we could have stayed longer because we were experiencing the best of America.

[1Old Pro]

The media is complicit (along with the Dems) in ginning up the Black/White animosity. Same thing for the PGA/LIV controversy - the media loves to divide and then write stories.