Can We Get Along?
Wolfpack Red - a Civility Allegory
Every where I look ... in any directions ... there are polarized folks who can't seem to find common ground. I don't care if it's NCAA rivalries, presidential elections, in-laws & out-laws, or simple disputes between our closest relatives and neighbors. It feels like there are so many "lines drawn in the sand" the baby sea turtles get confused and end up back on Duval Street.
@KelliDarlin and I are headed to the Duke Mayo Classic at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC. It's Tennessee vs NC State. A great SEC vs ACC football match up on a neutral ground. It is particularly nice that it is an easy automobile drive for both teams. Fans will come from both Knoxville and Raleigh.
This game is relevant for this BLOG because there is a fantastic country song entitled, "Tennessee Orange" by Megan Moroney. It's a sweet love song written from the perspective of a Georgia Bulldog fan who falls in love with a Tennessee Vols fan ... much to the chagrin of her parents and friends back in Athens. Bottom Line: we don't have to agree to get along. What a wonderful message ... which got me thinking about this blog. Let's go to work!
BACKGROUND & UNDERSTANDING
Here's some statistical facts I googled and submit for discussion purposes in this blog:
- 50/50 Male vs Female: About half of Americans have been assigned the biological gender of male and the other half are female. We can debate gender-based assignments later ... but for this discussion it's a flip of the coin if a baby comes out tagged as M or F.
- 50/50 Donkeys vs Elephants: About half of Americans who vote are Democrats and the other are Republicans. Who picked the mascot for each party? ... I don't know but for now let's set that aside.
- 50/50 Protestant vs Other: About half of US Citizens report they are Christian and the other half makes up "Other," including: Catholic, Morman, Islam, Hinduism, Buddism.
- 50/50 Married vs Not-Married: About half of the folks across our great nation are married and the other half are NOT married. Ya'll can tug-a-war about same-sex unions, but I'll respectfully submit marriage is not for the faint of heart.
- 50/50 Over vs Under $70k: About half of American households make under $70k vs the other half that makes over $70k. In 1973, GranLloyd paid me $2/hour when I was working at Penley Produce and regular gas costs 39 cents per gallon. Today gas is $3.51 ... so quick algebra says $18 is the yellow neck squash-picking hourly wage in 2024. Thank goodness we didn't have Netflix, UberEats, and Spotify.
Now here comes the high powered statistics. With 5 variables, there are 32 possible combinations. Explanation: Each variable can take on 2 states (e.g., true/false, 0/1), so with 5 variables, you have 2 raised to the power of 5 (2^5) which equals 32.
So for fun ... let's randomly pick 100 folks from across this great nation of ours who have the following five unique traits:
- identify M or F,
- vote Republican or Democrat,
- pray at a protestant church or "other" religion,
- file taxes married or single, and
- are either above/below the median salary in USA.
Each person will be exactly one of a possible 32 combinations of those five basic traits. Keep in mind, I made this math problem simple by limiting each variable to 2 states.
Quiz Question: What's the odds that any one of those 100 people are going to answer EXACTLY the same as you?
This was a big-ass wind up for this point: We are all different and there is a very good chance that most of us will NOT agree on many very important emotionally charged issues.
Extra Credit Questions: Can we all just get along? Can we agree to disagree?
ANSWER: MAYBE
But this is where the song "Tennessee Orange" might help us consider an alternative to non-stop yelling, name-calling, and acting like complete fools when someone doesn't agree with our point of view.
The song presents the power that love, kindness, and respect have in a relationship between two parties that come from fundamentally different places/points of view.
3 SUGGESTIONS
My exectuive function skills can't be above average, and I've rightfully earnd the lable: provocateur. But I have seen first hand diverse project teams (and families) set differences aside and accomplish amazing stuff by focusing on "common ground" strengths. #My2Cents:
- Keep Learning: Some of the most intelligent folks I know barely made it out of Enka High. They never went to college or even trade school, but they are compulsive "life-time learners." They read, question, consider, reflect, and create a set of knowledge based on lived experiences and exhaustive research by any means possible.
- Keep Thinking: Whew this is a really tough one. Many of the people I know have advanced degrees from high-ranking universities ... and they simply live for the sport of being objectionable, condescending, and know-it-alls. All that education, and they just refuse to "think" before they act/speak.
- Trust the Wind: If you are lucky, half the people you know will agree with a lot of what you hold true. But what about the other half? Do you have any idea how they came to their position? Have you walked a single step in their shoes? Let them be exactly who they are and you continue to be your authentic self. But agree to disagree. Do the work to build the confidence in your ideas/proposals while also having the confidence to empathize with the folks who come from a different perspective.
So that gets us back to ...
Wolfpack Red - A Civility Allogory.
@KariWolf (www.KariWolf.com @kariwolfmusic) performs a cover of @MeganMoroney ’s "Tennessee Orange" restyled for a UNC Tar Heels fan in love with a NC State Wolfpack fan. It is ordained for her to perform this song for the Wolfpack Nation because her real name is in fact Kari WOLF!
In the spirit of Montgomery Gentry’s (RIP) top country hit “Lucky Man” and lyrical adjustments made for each NFL football team, Wolfpack Red uniquely celebrates ACC college students relating to the SEC rivalry between Georgia and Tennessee. Across North Carolina, houses are divided by the three corners of the Research Triangle Park (RTP): Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh.
This video is intended for EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY. As a demonetized video with no commercial value, this video is designed as an allegory teaching tool to demonstrate how two diverse communities with opposing social views can find common ground through mutual respect.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE: We do not all have to agree to get along.
All photographs can be found on my phone or in the public domain on major social media platforms. Poor camera angles can be non-slimming and inadvertent shadows can give the appearance of over consumption. Don’t drink and drive.
DUKE MAYO CLASSIC: NC State University Wolfpack vs University of Tennessee Volunteers, Charlotte, NC Bank of America Stadium, Saturday, September 7, 2024
#gopack #govols #goheels #ncstatefootball #meganmoroney #tennesseorange #wolfpack
Performed by: @KariWolf @KariWolfMusic
Original Lyrics: @MeganMoroney
Video Cred: @KelliDarlin
This text description was partially generated by @ChatGPT
No animals were harmed in this video.
All rights belong to original artists and no infringement intended.
HERE'S TODAY'S VID-CLIP:
Tony McLean Brown
A Western NC hillbilly through and through, Tony McLean Brown was born in the small town of Enka-Candler outside of Asheville. His parents re-named him when he was 3 years old to Tony (a nickname provided by his grandfather) McLean (middle name of his Uncle Michael) while retaining his legal surname Brown.
Throughout his career, Tony McLean Brown worked as a farmer, computer programmer, and management consultant – in his adventurous years – author, song-writer, bass player, poet, pilot, mountaineer, certified scuba diver, and competitor in professional bull riding, NASCAR late model racing, Toughman boxing, Crossfit Open, Ironman, pole vaulting, marathon and ultra-marathon running, as well as parenting.
www.HappyGuidetoaShortLife.com has been leveraged to help charities and non-profits across the globe, USA, NC, and Lake Norman area. If you, your family, school, church, or charity has been supported, please take the time to share, like, subscribe, comment, and provide a 5 star review!
I got a “comment” outside of this blog post from someone I like and respect … a ton. Here’s the link she included: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_4CWJxsra8/ I guess my 2cents is … the closer the issues come to our hearts or day-to-day living, the more difficult it will be accept/appreciate other’s perspective. I get it. I do. Let’s take school shootings … anyone who says “well that’s just the price for protecting the 2nd amendment” is absolutely over the line. Now I’d like to call them “ignorant, uneducated, and full of shit” cause I’m from Candler, but I must realize that type of response is NOT going to advance the conversation towards safer schools. I gotta check the name-calling and disrespect. If i really care about keeping kids safe, I got to find a way to verbalize the underlaying complexities surrounding gun ownership, mental health issues in young males, and public education. By thinking harder … and trying different approaches … both sides of this important debate can move towards something more productive than yelling at each other. @tony-mclean-brown