Being Bullied

When does the bullying end? When did we start living in a time where it was okay to call people who don't agree with you names and judge them before you know them? How are we supposed to teach our youth that bullying is not okay when all they have to do is open the newspaper and see Trump supporters being called names?

I am fortunate that my job lets me work with all walks of people. I am honest when I say that I have never refused to help someone based on their race, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or their political views. I was raised to believe that people will have an opinion, and if I don't agree with it to respect their views, but I don't need to change my opinion because others want me to. I would never dream of calling them names or judging them so harshly. America is a free land where we have the luxury of expressing our views and we can practice any religion that we choose.

Recently my family and I went on a vacation to the Oregon coast. Our uncle had purchased all 16 of us the bright red "Make America Great Again" hats. We wore those hats proudly, anticipating someone to say something negative to us. It never happened. Instead we had people coming up to us almost every five minutes to shake our hands and say that they liked our hats or say God Bless America. Cars on the street were honking their horns and asking where we got them; some wanted pictures with us. So many of us will not show our support for Trump because we anticipate the negative remarks. I say show your support!

On the Gazette Opinions page, Bob Franken ('With Apologies for Dr. Suess' Aug.16) went so far as to call us bigots, deplorable souls, and fascists. Well I am sick of being bullied!

Imagine if God judged us merely off of our political views? Or if I refused to help someone at my place of employment because they are anti-Trump? In the end, my opinion is not going to change. Let’s focus on teaching the future generation to respect those that have different views and not bullying them for it.

--Cherie Patnode, Colfax