I enjoy posing “Would you Rather” questions to my students in order to get to know them better. Last November I was presented with a real life would you rather question. A couple of days after the election with claims of election fraud swirling, I received a Facebook message from a friend asking everyone to stand with President Trump. I simply responded “I voted for Biden.” She asked me why. I politely responded, “Because he was my choice for president.” Not wanting to get into a political discussion over FB messenger I hoped that would be it. She responded to me, thinking she was responding to another friend who said Trump was a horrible human being. Though I shouldn’t have been the recipient of that message, it did allow me to read her thought process. Her thought was this, though Trump may have “character flaws” she would rather have him run the country because at least he was doing a great job for us. She compared it to having a surgeon that may make you uncomfortable if you’re alone with him in an elevator, but if at least he’s a brilliant surgeon wouldn’t you rather he be the one performing your operation. I didn’t respond, but if I had it would have gone like this…
Say your son had a teacher in high school that EVERYONE knew was cheating on his wife, allowed athletes to skate by in his class, was inappropriate with his female students, kept his student class fees for himself, made fun of the special needs students in school, charged for good grades, and openly showed favoritism to some students while ignoring others. Though you thought he was a “horrible human being” your son admired him and wanted to emulate him thinking he was the best teacher ever. Would you be willing to overlook that teacher’s character flaws knowing your son looked up to him, just because he was doing a good job teaching your son academics?
One of my education professors in college overheard me say I could never be a doctor because I wouldn’t want to hold someone’s life in my hands. He stopped the pre-class discussion to remind us to never underestimate the power you have over your students’ lives. We not only speak into them academically, but socially and emotionally as well. Teachers and leaders are an example of how to treat people, how to succeed without running over others, how to play fair and share, how to get along and solve issues, how to be the best they can be, among so many other things. We influence them in ways we may never know. Think back to the teachers you had growing up. I’m sure you have memories both positive and negative.
So to my friend, no I wouldn’t want a surgeon who makes me feel creepy when I’m alone with him being the one operating on me. What if one of those “character flaws” distracts him during my surgery. Say he was out late drinking the night before and isn’t totally present while I’m under his knife. What if he is using shortcuts during the procedure, or worse yet, what if I don’t even need the surgery, but he’s performing it anyway so he can make more money.
I have to say I want both. I want a president that of course will have flaws, because we all do. Flaws make us human. But I want someone who acknowledges his flaws and works on them to become a better person. Not someone who thinks he is impervious to flaws and only notices them in others. I also want someone with enough knowledge of how our constitution works, how to get along with both sides of the aisle, and knows what makes America Great. Making America Great is not just knowing we have civil liberties and rights. That’s just what makes America. What makes America GREAT is having those rights and behaving responsibly with them; thinking of others as we make decisions on what we say or how we act and treat others.
Let’s all pray for a peaceful transition come January 20.
This blog was not set up to be political, but my last couple of posts have been. My apologies. I’ve debated with myself as to whether or not I should post this, but here it is. And I’m done now. Back to sharing my single life stuff 🙂
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