Sigh... I wish that the parents of kids in the kids' schools, scouts, etc would stop forwarding me these multi-forwarded politically charged messages. I appreciate the intention and message behind the religious & inspirational ones. And, I sometimes enjoy the cute & funny ones.
But, the political ones really make me uncomfortable, especially if I don't agree with them. I want to respond, to clarify, to speak my mind when I read them. But, I really don't want to engage in a political debate with them, knowing that we will need to interact with each other at school & scout events. So, most of the time, I try to not let them affect the way I feel about the parent or their children. And, I try to hold my tongue, not reply, not even read them if I can fight the curiosity...
Today, I didn't hold my tongue. Oh, I was polite, but I certainly made it clear that I didn't agree with the message or the intention in this email. Then, I apologized to Annie, letting her know that she might not be invited to this parent's daughters' birthday parties anymore. And, told her that I hope that the daughter's nice to her once they get to high school.
2 comments:
Do these go to every parent at the school? Maybe you could talk to the principal? That just doesn't seem right!
No, this one is from the parent of a girl in Annie's girl scout troop (and a classmate at her old school). I'm sure she thinks that we're 'friends' or that I would agree with her or that she's doing her glen-beck-tea-party-civic-duty by joining in and being outraged. The distribution list is mostly a bunch of scout moms.
And, I like her daughter as much as I like any of the other 2nd grade girls. Although, I have seen quite a bit of sass coming from her daughter the past few times I've spent time with her. She & Annie aren't good friends, but they do enjoy spending time together in scouts.
So, I get an email from her... Try to resist opening it because just from the "FW:OUTRAGE PARANOIA-type subject line", I know I'm not going to agree with the content. But, my kid spends time with her kid... And, I spend time with her. And, she chose to share her message with me, so, eventually, after telling myself that I shouldn't... I open it.
And, it's almost always full of untrue things easily debunked by snopes, or faulty logic, or strawmen or jingoistic, super conservative opinion based on fear...
Then, begins my internal (and sometimes external, as I talk to Jim & the kids about it) debate on whether and how I should reply.
Sometimes I don't & just try to put it out of my mind and smile nicely at her at the next Brownie meeting.
But, sometimes I do... And, no matter how nice I put it, I always feel like the subtext of my reply is "Actually, this is not true, not fair, manipulated, exaggerated, etc.", which, I'm thinking, leaves her feeling like I think she's misinformed and ignorant. Or leaves her feeling that I'm a liberal socialist out to destroy America.
Bleah... I wish she'd just get the hint & stop sending them to me. I had another boy scout mom doing the same a couple years ago & I finally asked her to stop, because I didn't want it to ruin the rest of our relationship with each other as parents working together in the community. Even now, though, when we run into each other, it's uncomfortable.
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