Whoever wins, we’ll still be polarized. What can an average person do about it?

Ever since Donald Trump launched his first campaign for president, his appeal has mystified me, and I’ve seldom passed up articles attempting to explain it. A particularly chilly theory was offered by The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols. Trump’s supporters want him to be “terrifying and stomach-turning,” Nichols said, to “horrify people both they and Trump hate.” No despicable behavior on Trump’s part, and nothing Kamala Harris says or does, will change their feelings.

I was tempted to compose a post saying that the feeling is mutual. 

Then, attending church nine days before the election, I heard a sermon about charity toward those on the other side of the political divide. 

Is travel necessary?

I’ve heard many people say that their number 1 priority for retirement is to travel. Foreign visitors on Chicago Greeter tours have told me that they go abroad at least once a year. Conversations are often about the vacation people just returned from or will soon depart for. 

I, however, am not taking every opportunity to see the world. Maybe it’s that everything would be crossed off if I had a bucket list. I have traveled a good amount in the United States and Canada and have gone to Europe three times. Or maybe it’s that I live in a big city with attractions people come here for.

 

"You look tired" is a faux pas

“You look tired,” I said to a neighbor without thinking. A friend who heard the comment considered it rude. If my neighbor actually wasn’t tired, I’d told her she looked bad.

How fraught remarks about appearance are! Even “You look great” might be interpreted as “You look a lot better than usual.”