I’m flying out of Charlottesville, Virginia this morning. I’ve been to/through Charlottesville before - the airport seems squirreled away but it’s difficult to tell as I’d made my way here before sunrise. I took a nap yesterday and that was a very bad decision that left me awake all but two and a half fitful hours last night.
The airport is compact - perhaps a total of 5 gates. It’s not busy - plenty of room to sit socially distanced from other travelers. As I await the elevator to the terminal with another passenger, I’m surprised she says hello and asks how I’m doing. I’m flying to Connecticut today. In the northeast, people politely ignore one another. The south is so different - but not in a bad away. I have a layover in DC. I’ll be on the look out for any politicians to heckle. Kidding. It was reported that Trump supporters heckled politicians at the airport this week over their perception of a “rigged” election. Were the people who don’t think this simply quiet? Maybe fearful of being lynched by a mob?
As predicted, my Facebook conundrum is sorting itself out - the person who knew someone who attended Wednesday’s events and cheered this individual’s actions on in her post unfriended me which is a relief. We have mutual friends and I wonder if it was my lack of silence that was the straw that broke the camel’s back or something else. I wonder if this individual assumes that other people condone last week’s actions at the Capitol? I wish they would have dumped me sooner because you cannot un-know things you have seen with your own eyes. Like the post I mentioned or the coverage of what happened on Wednesday or the picture that’s been emerging since then. It’s been interesting to see world headlines covering what happened last week.
I recognize that I should shut up, play Switzerland - because my opinion will change nothing. Then again - perhaps it will drive people away whom I’m not close to anyway because I have this radical notion that we should treat all people with respect and follow the processes for certifying elections. Or maybe it will make them think - to take a step back. To consider. I doubt it but I have to have some hope. These are dark days where I’m scared about what will happen next.
Though there is much darkness - the world, COVID, winter - it isn’t all bad. There is a sliver of light in the darkness in the new year which bumped in upon us with inconveniences - the truck not starting, a leak which left us with drywall to repair, my bed splitting as I attempted to move it back into place. There are glimmers of hope - I filed my coaching practice as an LLC in Virginia and have signed a paying client. COVID vaccines are trickling out. It’s time to step up my gratitude list.
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