Agree to Disagree

I miss my Granny.  She was the absolute cutest Grandma.  By the time I was old enough to take notice she was a 5' ball of "Don't Mess with Me", Oklahoman by way of West Texas girl.  She had a quick wit, but sometimes got sayings wrong.  For example, my most favorite one by far was when she called a woman who lived in town a "Bar Gnat" instead of a "Bar Fly".  But one of the things I learned from my Granny was this: It's okay to have a different opinion of someone else, but it's not okay to attack them because you don't agree.  Sometimes with some people you have to accept that that's how they feel (however wrong it is) and agree to disagree.

With recent incidents occurring where people get all up in arms over a simple statement given in answer to a question, and I will say that I didn't agree with it, it makes me remember that lesson.  With the recent events, and in some cases some personal experience with inaccurate statements I have worked hard to show the kids that you're not going to agree with everyone, but sometimes you just have to agree to disagree.  It has been a very eye-opening lesson for the two of them.

The Chick-Fil-A incident was a perfect example on a national scale of how a simple statement of belief can be blown out of proportion when one side is convinced the other is wrong and either won't a) listen to the other side's argument or b) agree to disagree.  I will say that I don't agree with the CEO's viewpoint, but he was simply answering a question.  I don't believe he went on further to try and convince others that his opinion was correct, so when the opposing sides went into the media and attacked him and his statement, I believe they went too far.  The kids asked why we went to Chick-Fil-A that first day of August, and I responded that we did to show support for the First Amendment right of Freedom of Speech even though we didn't agree with his viewpoint.

But having the kids see that has helped them quite a bit in handling each other and themselves when presented with a situation where they must defend their position and then either accept that it is correct or incorrect and then agree to disagree if a compromise can't be met.  That is a tough thing to accept in oneself, that maybe your opinion or belief might be flawed.  But it says volumes about you if you can accept when you are incorrect or agree to disagree with the other party.

Jack faced this at school when he found himself in a situation where the big insults were brought out...insulting the other person's mother.  Jack was told that I was fat because I was lazy and ate too much (because after all that's why everyone is fat in this world).  Jack responded that, indeed, the other person's reasoning  was flawed because I exercised quite regularly, had run a half marathon, and ate quite healthy.  That, in fact, my weight gain was due to an under active thyroid.  Now, I'm sure that the other student had NO CLUE what Jack was talking about, so they reverted back to their original argument.  Jack simply said, "Dude, you go on believing what you want, but I know the truth.  That's all that matters."  So Jack had begun to learn the lesson, and I hope he continues to work hard at it.  However, I'm afraid that many more people are not heeding the lesson and that doesn't bode well for relations with each other.