WHOA. Harsh.

A quick rant... a Frant if you will.  WHY are people SO harsh on social media?  Is it because it's so easy to be brave behind a screen and the offender doesn't have to face the consequence of the receiver's reaction?   I will sometimes imagine my closest friend saying to me some of the things that people write to others on Facebook and, gosh, my feelings would be SO hurt.  It's easy to forget that those are real people on the other side of that profile.

Every now and then I find myself going down a rabbit hole of comments when there is a controversial topic posted on FB.  Obviously, I am a glutton for punishment because it only ever gets me fired up.  Maybe I like the drama, but no good comes from it.  But still... I read and read and read.  Let's look at an example:  The Target saga that allows people to use the restroom of the gender of which they associate.  I am friends with people on both sides of the argument, and guess what...  Both sides have valid points!  Why can't people have an honest, objective discussion without damning the other person to hell just because they disagree on this one topic?  

I'll be honest, I have a 7 year old niece and I would be uncomfortable sending her into the restroom by herself if I saw a transgender woman walk in beforehand.  This does not make me intolerant.  There are perverts in this country that will take advantage of this public announcement that Target allows them in whichever restroom they choose.  It's not the transgenders that the naysayers are scared of, it's the opportunistic perverts, the ones we should ALL be against.  They're the ones who messed everything up for everyone.

On the other side of the argument, I empathize with the transgender woman that needs to use the restroom while shopping.  She should be able to.  If we were using the same theory that perverts have free reign over all the bathrooms, then she may be in danger going into the men's restroom.  This does not make me an accomplice to sexual molestation.  Even if you do not believe in the lifestyle choices of transgenders, stopping them from going to the restroom is just human cruelty.

I emphasized above the two strongest arguments that are being spewed on social media.  No matter where you stand on the topic, there is a way to present your argument without belittling the other side.  I would imagine a majority of people will stop listening to your case if you resort to belittling/namecalling/extreme exaggerations.  There is not a simple answer, otherwise this would not be such a controversy.  This can be said for most arguments.  In short, I say we empathize more, attack less. 

Until next time, 
Fran