Earlier this week I saw a comment from my friend Andreas on Facebook that stuck with me all week. He made a comment on a post saying he sees a lot of people who say they don’t care about a subject spend a lot of time and effort on FB or the like chatting about that non-opinion. When he doesn’t care about something he “will STFU” and keep on living his life. I’ve paraphrased it some but you get the point. I think it stuck with me because I could hear him in my mind saying this and also it’s true. Social media has allowed us to comment on everything. On one hand, it’s fabulous and on the other, overwhelming.

The one news story that seemed like low-hanging fruit for discussion this week is the story about Colin Kaepernick sitting first and then kneeling during the national anthem. There are as many different views on this as there are NFL players. My initial reaction was who cares? Some football player making a scene. A non-issue to me but it seems like it certainly is something people care about.  Remembering Andreas’ words, I didn’t make any comments on FB about it but I did read a lot of different opinions during the week.

Most people find his sitting or knelling during the anthem offensive to the military. I’m not quite on board with this. While as a society we find it disrespectful to do anything but stand during this song, is it really the worst of things he could have done? He didn’t disrupt it or not allow others to be respectful. If our military fights for our rights, is it more insulting to use them or not to?  Do I feel happy when people are talking or goofing around during the anthem or when I see someone burning an American flag in protest, no. But that’s the Catch-22 with freedoms like those we have, not everyone expresses it the same way.  

Could he have done something else? Probably but maybe like so many of the rest of us, he is at a loss of what to do. If you hear there are hungry families in your area, you can donate food. If kids need school supplies you can donate them but when people, especially those we expect to protect us, act in a way we don’t like, what can we do? Especially when we want quick action.

As I thought about this all week, I realized there was one important thing I could do. I can vote.

Yep, vote. It’s that easy. I can look at candidates closely on the local level to see if they share my values and have made a commitment to making change when/where needed. I can vote for representatives that will go to the Hill and actually do some work. And, I can look at the presidential candidates, weed through rhetoric and see who not only has a vision for America similar to my own, but a plan to accomplish it. In this season of elections, we are overwhelmed with the presidential chatter but let’s stop and look at our local reps. Do they have what it takes to make the changes or reinforce the behavior we want in our local community?

Maybe by following Andreas’ example of STFU, I’ve actually found my voice. And maybe by sitting back and looking beyond my initial reaction to something I didn’t quite get, I’ve actually found an answer I wouldn’t have gotten. Stand up, sit down, burn the flag, wrap it around you – whatever you do, it’s your right. So is voting. Embrace it.