I’ve had this idea for a while: a coffee shop open to conversations with people who are the “others,” meaning people who are different from you in [choose your desired category]. The obvious categories being politics and religion. You go to a table, and if you wish to be open to a conversation about anything with anyone and you are willing to be open-minded, you put up the flag, and any stranger can sit to talk.
This concept could either turn into something beautiful, or it could be a total disaster – picture a brawling saloon in the Old West.
I have a long-time friend who happens to be very liberal and also very loud, his name is Chuck. I have an uncle who is conservative and also very loud. The two of them are a hoot. When we go camping, they break the after-hours quiet time rule, and getting them to hush is a real challenge.
They do not talk about politics. But they talk and laugh a lot, very loudly, about life. Put the standard talking points aside of each political paradigm, and you have two people who get along very well and what’s more like each other quite well, too. They are two peas in a pod and seemingly agree on every “non-political” subject.
It seems they are on the same side. A simple recategorization and the “others” are really with us, after all.
