As men, we have strong points of views. We adopt intense, often rigid opinions on almost any subject under the sun. We can argue about sports, food, sex, money, cars, liquor, movies and politics.
Just the other night I met four friends for dinner. Pasta. Old fashioned pasta. Not gluten-free. I don’t think the cook at this place (Tony’s Italian Deli) knows what gluten is–to be frank, neither do I. It’s one of those places where they call the sauce “gravy”, and people hunch over their plates, fork in one hand and a hunk of bread in the other, and push the food into their mouths.
At any rate, the guys and I were there for four hours, and we didn’t agree on a single thing. Nothing.
For example, we got into it about guns. I’m not a gun guy–my old man gave me a .22 for my 13th birthday, but it didn’t take. What do I need a gun for? I have a Costco close by, which takes care of my need for meat, and when that squirrel in my back yard tries to sneak into my tomato plants, I shoot it with water from my hose.
This friend of mine, Caleb, looked at me like my name was Hillary Clinton. He railed at me about the 2nd amendment and went on and on about his God-given right to keep a loaded shotgun underneath his pillow if that’s what he chose to do, and no one was going to tell him any different. The other two guys leaned his way, and eventually, the argument bled into another, and so on for the rest of the night.
It got me to thinking, however…and just before we wrapped up the night, I told Caleb–I will go to an NRA rally with him if he would go to Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence town hall meeting.
To his credit, he thought about it for a minute, then said, “fuck no.”
But I DID go to the NRA rally. And I went to a gun shop and spoke with the proprietor. I learned a lot. Didn’t change my mind. I will never have a gun in the house, but I took the time to look at another point of view.
TASK:
Write down an issue that pisses you off. And WHY it pisses you off. Then study the issue. Look at it from another angle. Ruminate on it. And see what happens. After all, you don’t have to change your mind, you just have to open it.
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