Can't We All Just Get Along?

Can't We All Just Get Along?

Photo by: Prayudi Hartono

Jimmy wanted to pitch when the gang decided to play a pickup game of baseball.  Problem was, so did Bobby.

"I'm a better pitcher than you'll ever be," Jimmy shouted in Bobby's face. 

"Oh, yeah?" Bobby retorted.   "Well, everybody else thinks you stink and you should be out in right field.  Waaaay out in right field, where you can't mess anything up."

"YOU ought to stay in the dugout - better yet, why don't you just go home and cry to your Mommy?" Jimmy sneered.

The two boys taunted, insulted, and irritated each other to the point where they ended up rolling around on the infield dirt, fighting each other over who would pitch.

After a few minutes of this, the other kids just walked away.  The baseball game never got off the ground.

It doesn't take much thought to parley this little story into the real-life slugfest in Washington, DC, which has led to a shutdown of the federal government.  But, just as true as it would be for adolescent boys on a ball field, these grownup fisticuffs should be every bit as avoidable.

All it takes is a willingness to understand where you're coming from, where the other person is coming from, and a path to get to where you're going together.  The world is built on relationships.  Relationships are built on respect, listening, applied knowledge, and compromise.

This ain't rocket science, folks. It's proven time and again in history.  And, best of all, it's contained within our own DNA, our conscience.

If they'd just talked with each other, instead of at each other, Jimmy could have pitched the first few innings, and Bobby the last.  They both would have gotten what they wanted and the game could have been played.  

Dialogue proves maturity, growth, and progress.  Since when did dialogue become a bad word?  Our leaders in Washington - are you listening?

Be Well,
Eric