To Relate
Something that has been on my mind recently is the subject of “being able to relate.”
I read this article about a city that overwhelmingly voted Trump for President, only to now be shocked when the crack down on immigrants hit home.
The hateful rhetoric of getting rid of “all immigrants, all those bad guys” was easy for them to support, until they could finally relate, when one of their own, a neighbor and friend, was targeted.
I’ve also seen examples where employees have time-off considerations treated differently based on a boss being able to or not able to relate to their personal situation.
It’s an interesting conundrum… and one I feel too. How can you truly relate to someone and understand how they feel if you’ve never been in their situation?
It’s impossible, really. Empathy is an ideal.
But even if we can’t truly relate to a certain situation, we can still relate as people, with an assumption that we are all trying to do our best in a situation.
Just see them as who they are, another person (just like you!) trying their best to navigate this crazy thing called life.
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