Friday, July 24, 2009

Sound Off

I think the biggest hot-button topic today is health care reform. Everyone has an opinion about what should happen, and I've seen people get angry when someone doesn't see things their way. Today I tried to express my opinion in a reasonable manner when I sent a message to someone I disagree with.

The recipient was the author of a column that appears in a community newspaper that gets mailed all the houses in our area. Although the newspaper is conservative-leaning, I usually give it a few minutes of my time before I put it in the recycling bin because there are often articles about my city that don't make the main metropolitan paper. Sometimes I read the columns and letters to the editor because I like to examine ideas from different points of view; I try to take away some thought-provoking tidbits.

In the latest edition of the paper, one of the columnists made some points about health care that I completely disagreed with. Usually when that happens, I get annoyed and toss the paper. This time, though, I felt the need to express my views. When I wrote, I gave all the reasons why I disagreed with his assessment, and I tried to make my points in a reasonable manner. It doesn't help to bash the author!

I felt better after I hit the 'send' button. I have no expectation that my short message will cause the author to change his thinking, but hopefully he'll read my opinions with an open mind.

3 comments:

  1. Hope he does. Maybe he will give it some thought as it is always good to see things in a new light.

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  2. It is time to make our views known, for sure. People not being involved in our systems, have resulted in chaos.

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  3. I hope he does too. I try to read opinions from across the spectrum, but sometimes finishing what I'm reading is difficult when I realize the words are written on a brick wall.

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