Like nearly 51 percent of America, I didn’t vote for Donald Trump. Nonetheless, I received a gift on Election Day. Unexpectedly called in to work the polls, my cell silenced, I was spared the beeps displaying updated Electoral College maps or heralding texts from astonished friends. I’m incredibly grateful to have experienced — in the midst of continued warnings to the contrary — our orderly process of selecting the new leader of our nation.
First-time voters, elderly voters in wheelchairs, voters who needed help to complete the ballot, working people on break, parents with children, members of the military; I saw these and more. And a new citizen, her earnest face smiling broadly as she waved an American flag, angling to ensure the photo she asked someone to take, captured the voting booths draped in striped panels of red, white and blue. This is America at its best: voting our conscience, participating in democracy and — perhaps hardest of all — trusting the results.
As I left the polling station and switched on my phone, I saw several messages from my son, a first-time voter. Once the outcome was clear, he texted: “Mom, how did this happen how did he win president of the United States?” I texted back, “I know hon — we all need to pray and come together bc our country really needs unity.” I breathed a sigh of relief at his response: “I agree.”
How is it that my 19-year-old son, in spite of deep disappointment at the outcome of his very first vote, is able to understand this when all around me I continue to see signs that adults don’t?
“I hope those rednecks in rural America get what they deserve for voting for Trump,” I heard someone say. The thing is, there is no “us and them” because on Jan. 20, our country will swear in a new president responsible for leading the nation. Like it or not, we’re all in this together. So, as Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times said in a post-election column, “… it’s time to buck up.”
I’m not naïve. I have significant concerns about a Trump presidency, and I worry about numerous issues: immigration, economic inequality, the Affordable Care Act, national security, trade — our country faces enormous challenges. It’s easy to become overwhelmed, but I refuse to give in to despondency.
So I’m embarking on a listening tour. I may disagree with a person’s views, but that doesn’t make her any less an American, any less my neighbor, friend or family member. It’s something each of us can do: truly listen. Ask questions; don’t snap to judgment; earnestly lean forward when someone shares what she believes President Trump will do for our country, for her, for her family.
I’ve made a list of people I know who may have voted for Trump: family, friends, members of my church, people I’ve worked with of a different political bent. I plan to invite them to meet for coffee. My hope is to listen. Listen to people I admire tell me their vision of what a Trump presidency could mean for our nation, for this person I respect. What does she dream President Trump might accomplish? What change does she envision is possible from this outsider to politics?
I won’t ask why she voted this way, I won’t argue, I won’t point holes in her reasoning. I will do my best to hear; to let the conversation flow, reminding myself to adhere to one of my life’s ground rules: assume the best. I will assume this person has the country’s best interest at heart, that she wants each citizen to be better off than they are.
I may not succeed. I may not get anyone to talk to me. I may get discouraged from what I hear. But one thing I know: It’s time for healing. It’s time for each of us to work to understand each other. And for me, the only way I can think to do that is one person at a time.
• Patty Ware is a Juneau resident, and was registered as a “U” (Undeclared) for 30 years until she changed her party affiliation to caucus for Bernie Sanders. She plans to change it back now that the election is over.
