Cleats and Flip-flops

Last night we had our last game of the regular season in soccer. We won't be going into postseason play. Part of me is disappointed, but the sore parts of me are elated. I got a few good bruises last night, and the ball left a stitching imprint above my knee for a few hours! Plus some funky stuff with my right quad and hip flexor... But I also made a few good blocks, so I'm happy to see that I'm improving. So I'm chatting with my dad today just as I'm winding up at work. He's still having employment issues. One prospect that looked very good now seems like it's falling through. I think it's the money; for someone with his experience, they gave the impression for a short while that they might not want to pay him as much as he deserves. Sigh. This is part of capitalism, isn't it? One of the ugly parts... So Daddy and I are talking and we start talking about the election. Daddy's a Republican. Mommy's a Democrat, and a fervent one at that. You can imagine the household; it's not quite James Carville and Mary Matalin. They get into some heated disputes when it comes to politics; it's a subject that, for their own happiness, is better off left discussed with others. So anyway, I confided in my dad that I didn't vote for Bush this time. We at least can discuss the subject rationally and without vitriol, unlike some of the other people around here. He jokingly says "your mother got to you." I tell him no, Bush got to me; I AM capable of independent thought. He jokingly calls me a "flip-flopper" because I generally have Republican tendencies. He thought I was a registered Republican. Cute. I am proud to say that I have no party affiliation, and never have - although I will admit that I have a Republican or somewhat Libertarian streak. So, we're wrapping up and saying goodbyes; "Love you," Dad says. "Love you anyway. :)" haha. Why can't people just be more accepting like that? Okay, we disagreed about the President, but still - it doesn't change who I am, I just had a different outlook. Some people are using this as their opportunity to demonize all Christians, gays, Midwesterners, Southerners, or whatever flavor of the week is there to be stereotyped and blame them for the election. But that doesn't make the neighbor you occasionally chat with into some nasty human being - they just have a different philosophy about how this country should be run. It's time to move the hell on. All this hatred isn't going to help us fix things. And no, Northeast/California, you can't secede and join Canada. *groan* Learn to deal.