Still Unpopular After All These Years

Yes, it's true. I was not the queen of the prom, was not Homecoming Queen, was not the kid everyone flocked to. I had no sense of fashion, was not a risk-taker, and was two years younger than my peers. I was the last runner in PE, the least likely to be chosen for the team, and the one who got paired with some boy much too much like me while we practiced the 1-2-cha-cha-cha.

Were you like me? Even when things seemed to be going swimmingly, I'd manage to say or do something embarrassing and slip back into a social void.

These days, I am fortunate to have very good friends and to feel a part of a community. Yet I still persist in irritating just about everyone. Living in Southern Oregon, most of my community are either very liberal or very conservative. 

That would be fine if I just kept my mouth shut. Unfortunately, rather like the smart alecky kid I used to be, that is not my forte. So I take political positions guaranteed to tick everyone off.

My conservative friends cringe because...

...I believe guns should be regulated like cars.
...I challenge the wisdom of raping our wild areas for short-term gain.
...I believe our community should pay for its own services.
...I support increases in the minimum wage, affordable higher education, and single-payer health care.
...I don't believe national security snooping trumps my privacy rights.
...I scoff at the sources of much of their information.
...I have opposed every war fought in my lifetime.
...I can't see much difference between Christian, Jewish and Muslim extremists. 
...I believe law enforcement has exceeded its mandate for public safety and become much too militant. 
...I don't think welfare is the big deal they do.
...I demand evidence for any far-out claims.
...I question the value of tieing sports teams to public schools.


My liberal friends are dismayed that...

...I do not believe marijuana is a good or even neutral thing.
...I doubt that Bernie Sanders would be an effective candidate or an effective president.
...I am not convinced that the food fad of the month matters one iota.
...I am not a vegan and am concerned about its possible health ramifications.
...I do support our locally owned lumber industry.
...I still have faith in mainstream health care and don't substitute chiropractors or naturopaths.
...I believe in locally controlled public schools.

But neither of these groups are likely as put off by my beliefs as the pool of friends who really would rather not have to think about politics every day. They're the real victims of people like me.