An Open Letter To A Coworker

This is a letter they’ll probably never read. But in light of national events earlier this month, there are a lot of people who need to hear this.

In the wake of November 5th, I have been checking in with friends and coworkers I know or suspect will be affected. Just a quick, “Hey, how are you holding up? I’m here if you need anything.”

These are people who shared their hopes and dreams, fears and concerns with me. They’re people who’re in groups who will be most heavily impacted.

This letter is not for them.

This letter is for the longtime work friend who, after I asked how she was holding up, expressed confusion about what that had to do with the election. “It won’t affect me,” she said. “It was going to be bad either way.”

I’m sorry, what?

You don’t have to have an interest in politics to have seen all the analysis comparing the candidates’ policies. That information is readily available, and you’d have to live under a rock to have missed all of it. You’d have to have zero concern for your own welfare, not to mention the health and safety of your friends and family, to come to the conclusion that both candidates were equally bad.

This doesn’t affect me nearly as much as others. I’m male. I pass as white so well that most people are surprised that I have Native American heritage. Yet I still understood the importance of this election– because I possess a basic level of empathy. Because I care about the future of this country, and feel it’s our civic duty to leave the world a better place than we found it. And, most of all, because I care about all the friends this will have major negative impacts on.

With all that’s at stake, with all the misery, suffering, and death that the policies of one candidate stood to cause, how could you come to the conclusion that who won would not impact you? Or your children? Or your friends and family? How could you care so little?

Yes, the other candidate isn’t everything we could hope for. No, I don’t agree with all of their policies either. But you’re not choosing a life partner– you’re choosing the general direction of the nation for the next four years. The person you choose doesn’t have to be perfect. They just have to not be a monster or a cretin. It’s not that hard.

And yet, for many, apparently it was. It was too hard to look beyond the lies and disinformation. It was too hard to education yourselves on the basics of how inflation, tariffs, and consumer prices work. It was too hard to look past minor disagreements with certain policies. It was too hard to consider how this would affect others. It was too hard to even bother to vote.

Every election season, registered voters are presented with an open book test on participation in our democracy. Congratulations– you failed. In four years, if you’re still here and our country is too, I hope you choose to do better.

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