Relax, America. It’s okay to talk to your neighbors again. I have proof that we are not as hopelessly and irretrievably different from one another as our ongoing political differences would suggest.
What is this proof?
“Michigan roads suck.”
That’s one of the comments that came to me from readers all over the state when I asked for things that unite us rather than divide us. It is indisputably true.
Another was, “The Lions, Pistons and Tigers all suck and shall forever suck.” I actually kinda disagree with that one. The Red Wings kinda suck, too. Why leave them out?
But you see what I’m getting at. We lunk-headed human beings may have different political and religious views, but we are 90 percent alike on just about everything else, and I think it’s high time we started remembering that.
According to these independent experts, it’s safe to say most of us agree on:
“Garden tomatoes in August. Good car mechanics. A five-year, all-clear cancer report.” – Suze
“Kindness. We all want some kindness. Give a little, you get back a lot.” – Jean
“Sleeping on sheets dried in the sun, that first cup of coffee in the morning, running out of school on the last day, paying off a loan.” – Shelley C.
“Family eating dinner together at the table at every opportunity.” – Allen P.
“Marvin Gaye’s music, Van Morrison’s, Ella Fitzgerald’s … and brownies.” – Tom
“Beach fires and fall colors in da Yoop. And puppies.”
– John M.
“The laughter of a baby.” – Beth R.
“The feeling you get listening to a child sing. And hot buttered popcorn!” – Sue S.
“Mid-day naps, family couch cuddles.” – Catherine T.
“Good neighbors.” – Jennifer M.
“Hugs.” – Julie P.
“Ice cream, a good book and great music.” – James W.
“A quiet trail through the woods. The sound of singing birds in the morning. Friends.” – Dennis W.
“Pineapple chunks soaked in coconut rum. Jumping in the lake after running down the dock. I’m 50+ years old and I still love that feeling!” – Lisa W.
“The first time someone cuts the grass and there’s a baseball game on the radio (think Ernie)” – Lynn F.
“A deep laugh that makes you cry.” – Laura B.
I’ll add a few myself. Most of us – even the skiers and snow-lovers among us – celebrate the end of another Michigan winter when it finally arrives. You know, like in May or June.
We all love music, too. Your taste in it is awful compared to mine (gotta be honest), but you still like notes combined in a sequence to make a melody of some sort. That’s something, isn’t it?
Then there’s pizza. Does anyone not like pizza? Even the gluten- and lacto-intolerant seek it out in alternative forms. The pizza is quite possibly the world’s best food-delivery platform.
I can safely say we all dislike and fear loneliness, too. There’s too much of it these days, isn’t there? I blame some of it on cell phones.
I think we all love sunrises, sunsets, warm socks, cold drinks, Australian accents, the smell of books, the sound of rain, a good loyal dog and the idea that there is, after all, some purpose and reason for us all to be spinning around in space on this blue ball.
When you think about it for a moment, that’s a lot of stuff. Sure, we disagree a lot, too. But our differences are trivial compared to our similarities.
Let’s try to keep that in mind moving forward, shall we?
