No Politics at the Dinner Table
Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching and if you're anything like me you fear the holidays for one reason: political talk. For us millennials, it's almost impossible to not have a conversation regarding politics. It's almost daily for me and my four roommates, three of which have no political inclination whatsoever.
But going home for the holidays is a different story all together. You are no longer around people your age with like minded feelings. You are in semi-charted territory. You (may) love your family and want to converse & debate with them but then your mom starts giving you dirty looks from across the table because you're not old enough to know much about politics (despite you having worked in a Senator's Office and being a poly-sci major). It's not my fault that I can't bring up the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation without my family going into a hysterical defensive frenzy. If I can keep my cool while listening to many opinions that differ from my own drastically, so can everyone else who is so much more mature and wiser than myself.
But I digress. Should you bring this stuff up at the table on Thanksgiving? No, you shouldn't. This is one of those times, when you, my fellow millennials, have to rise above. It will never end well. Like literally never. Even if you win, you've got some family annoyed with you and if you lose then you're annoyed with them. And in between that is an hour debate with people screaming over each other while asking you to pass the mashed potatoes.
You're not going to convert anyone to your party on Thanksgiving nor will you change their views. Everyone's entitled to it but not prepared for a fight. So sit this one out, and if your family brings it up? Shut up! Sit there and stop talking. Play a game on your phone, steer the conversation in a different direction, or escape out of the window. And if you're forced to answer, be respectful, be vague and don't give away too much.
You may be thinking to yourself "But Avery sometimes they're just wrong." Yeah, I'm sure they are. I'm sure you're not 100% right either. Get over it and stick it out for the night.
But going home for the holidays is a different story all together. You are no longer around people your age with like minded feelings. You are in semi-charted territory. You (may) love your family and want to converse & debate with them but then your mom starts giving you dirty looks from across the table because you're not old enough to know much about politics (despite you having worked in a Senator's Office and being a poly-sci major). It's not my fault that I can't bring up the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation without my family going into a hysterical defensive frenzy. If I can keep my cool while listening to many opinions that differ from my own drastically, so can everyone else who is so much more mature and wiser than myself.But I digress. Should you bring this stuff up at the table on Thanksgiving? No, you shouldn't. This is one of those times, when you, my fellow millennials, have to rise above. It will never end well. Like literally never. Even if you win, you've got some family annoyed with you and if you lose then you're annoyed with them. And in between that is an hour debate with people screaming over each other while asking you to pass the mashed potatoes.
You're not going to convert anyone to your party on Thanksgiving nor will you change their views. Everyone's entitled to it but not prepared for a fight. So sit this one out, and if your family brings it up? Shut up! Sit there and stop talking. Play a game on your phone, steer the conversation in a different direction, or escape out of the window. And if you're forced to answer, be respectful, be vague and don't give away too much.
You may be thinking to yourself "But Avery sometimes they're just wrong." Yeah, I'm sure they are. I'm sure you're not 100% right either. Get over it and stick it out for the night.
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