This is a period of great political strife, and by “political strife,” I mean, “We were all looking forward to seeing fewer political posts on Facebook.”
I understand why people are upset. All of our Facebook associates are posting about politics even more. And totally changing each other’s minds. And, to a lesser extent, we still don’t know who won the election.
We may fret about our futures. We may worry about, lo, the future of our great republic. We may worry about the future of our families. We may worry about whether history will regard us as having wasted the wealth and security provided by previous generations.
But let us remember one thing: Look to the Blue Bell!
Blue Bell and the United States have both had hiccups. The United States was torn asunder [asunder!] almost 155 years ago.
Blue Bell was torn asunder five years ago. Listeria was Blue Bell’s Fort Sumter.
Blue Bell came back even stronger, though. Look how much space they occupy in the dairy case!
The United States came back stronger, too. Now, ice creams around the entire dairy case look to us for guidance. [In this case, civics students, “dairy case” means, “world,” and “ice creams” means, “countries.”]
Maybe the United States is bigger and more unwieldy now. We’re being pulled in many different directions. But we can’t be afraid to take chances, to make mistakes, because learning from those mistakes makes us stronger. Learning from those mistakes [like Groom’s Cake or the Cold War] can lead to breakthroughs [like Fudge Brownie Decadence or landing on the moon].
Groom’s Cake and the Cold War both had a lot of individual issues that make them difficult to quantify in a larger sense: Groom’s Cake has bits of chocolate cake swirled with strawberry jelly and then chocolate covered strawberries. The Cold War had fights over political influence, ideological differences and then concerns about nuclear weapons.
Both, though, had one message: When we come together, we can accomplish anything. Maybe you don’t consider Groom’s Cake or the Cold War a mistake. And that is your right.
For those suggesting we should keep fighting and not seek out what we all share in common, I might suggest we didn’t understand how much Blue Bell meant to us until it was gone.
When Blue Bell returned that fall, some reporters were invited to try it in the store to show it was safe to consume, showing the importance of a free press holding our ice creams accountable.
We may feel like we’re all drifting apart as a nation. We may feel like the Pecan Pralines ‘n’ Cream to our neighbor’s Cookie Two Step, but we’re all ice cream. And by “ice cream,” I mean “mammals.” We all come from the same creamery in the sky.
Loyal Scaiaholics will recall Wednesday’s blog where a spokesman for the Dallas County Republican Party explained no matter how much we disagree, we’re able to disagree because we have the greatest country the world.
If you don’t like the idea of hearing that from a Republican, just imagine I said he was with the Dallas County Democrats. It’s the same concept. Both party chairs even signed a letter with that message: No matter how much we disagree, it’s a positive thing to see so many people getting involved.
You might be wringing your hands about the future. But we’re the nation’s superpower. Nothing is over until we say it is!
