FA+
Shop
A Moment of Empathy
9 years ago
Let me tell you a story.
At MFF one year, some fool dropped powdered chlorine in a stairwell and everybody got evacuated from the hotel at ~2 AM. Fursuiters, people in their PJs, people in less than their PJs: we were all standing outside in a Chicago November. We get herded into another hotel across the street. I ended up spotting and sitting with my friends FoxFeather and Mbala. We were rattled, confused, and exhausted, so we camped out under a table just to feel less vulnerable and feel a little ownership of a space. After a couple stressful hours, we got to talking about how at any time someone could demand we leave. That moment gave us a newfound empathy for homeless and refugee populations. Ever since, when I see images of people cast adrift in the world, I find that same sliver of empathy waiting inside me.
Today, as millions of citizens woke up with dread in the pit of their stomachs at the election results, I hope our whole nation learns empathy for women, minorities, immigrants, LGBT folks, and anyone else who lives in fear that their basic rights won't be respected. Many vulnerable people feel this feeling every day.
That is what I choose to learn from today.
Don't lose hope. Resist their terrified hate with your bravest compassion. Organize. Vote. They cannot hold back the tide forever.
We now return you to your regularly-scheduled programming: Husky with a Bean Bag Chair, already in progress.
At MFF one year, some fool dropped powdered chlorine in a stairwell and everybody got evacuated from the hotel at ~2 AM. Fursuiters, people in their PJs, people in less than their PJs: we were all standing outside in a Chicago November. We get herded into another hotel across the street. I ended up spotting and sitting with my friends FoxFeather and Mbala. We were rattled, confused, and exhausted, so we camped out under a table just to feel less vulnerable and feel a little ownership of a space. After a couple stressful hours, we got to talking about how at any time someone could demand we leave. That moment gave us a newfound empathy for homeless and refugee populations. Ever since, when I see images of people cast adrift in the world, I find that same sliver of empathy waiting inside me.
Today, as millions of citizens woke up with dread in the pit of their stomachs at the election results, I hope our whole nation learns empathy for women, minorities, immigrants, LGBT folks, and anyone else who lives in fear that their basic rights won't be respected. Many vulnerable people feel this feeling every day.
That is what I choose to learn from today.
Don't lose hope. Resist their terrified hate with your bravest compassion. Organize. Vote. They cannot hold back the tide forever.
We now return you to your regularly-scheduled programming: Husky with a Bean Bag Chair, already in progress.
... and I do. All of these people have been taken advantage of by the system just as much as I have. They're angry and they want their voice to be heard just like me. They're just as screwed when our oceans swell and our air turns poison soon. These are people who have been screwed over. They're not just hateful bigots, they're people who have no idea what to do for a better life just like me. I have the extreme conflicting emotions of hating their fucking guts and feeling for them at the same time.
(My country did the same with exiting the EU... imho that's a terrible decision, but I can see what drove people to it and I just wish that there had been better campaigns run with more accurate information all around.)
I don't hate the people who supported Trump, but I am frustrated and sad that they cling to something blindly without looking. Especially the ones who are real hard core about it and actually think Obama isn't an American and that Hillary Clinton needs to be killed for treason. I just literally can't understand how someone can basically stand there yelling about how the system is rigged against the people who hold all the power and control.
I don't like Clinton. She wasn't a great choice, but if you look at the facts, she was a little 'eh?' at best in terms of scandals and what she has done. Trump on the other hand has done some terrible things JUST during the election. I mean, seriously, he didn't pay a group of little girls he had perform at one of his rallies. O_o He's the second president to ever make public comments about his penis, he's made sexist, racist, and bigoted comments...
Ugh...I'm going to stop now and watch that video again. I need cuteness! :p