Published Jul 23, 2021 by Rick Cundiff
Around these parts, we generally get along. Here in the land of all things custom patches, we have a mix of older and younger employees. We have a mix of White, Black and Latinx folks.
We’ve got conservatives, we’ve got liberals, we’ve got in-betweens. We have folks with pretty strong opinions about many things. And yet we manage to be civil to one another, and unite to work toward common goals that are good for all of us – such as selling great custom patches to you.
It’s a simple formula. We don’t discuss certain things at work. We respect each others’ opinions enough to keep quiet in a work setting. And guess what? We still maintain friendships outside of work, socializing with one another as well.
That’s how the world works in general for most people, both at work and at home. Even if you disagree with someone, it’s possible to maintain a civil discourse with them.
Except lately, it seems that civil discourse is wearing kinda thin. Even in areas where there’s no reason to be angry, people are getting that way.
Case in point: I frequent a couple of online forums for my hobby interests. Neither of these forums is political, and one explicitly prohibits political discussion. Generally, they’re both fun groups, celebrating the wonders of both modern and vintage technology. But lately, things have gotten tense in both.
In one instance, several members took to task a long-time forum participant for taking down his own website. He had done a massive amount of research for it, and it certainly was a valuable resource for the group overall.
But it was his personal site, to do with as he pleased. He chose to take it down, several members of the forum took offense and drove away a valued member who even without the site, still had a tremendous amount to offer the group.
In the other group, which has a range of forum topics, several members got a little grumpy about whether a particular two-wheeled vehicle was a motorcycle, a scooter or a moped. It got heated for a while.
It seems to be a combination of factors, including the past year and a half of isolation, coming out of that isolation, the question of whether to vaccinate or not, and how to react to those who choose not to. Everybody seems to be on edge.
So how can we get back to a more peaceful place? Let’s try a little extra kindness. Go for a patch with a positive message instead of a snarky one. Keep in mind that we’re all doing our best to muddle through.
Most of all, let’s keep looking out for one another.
