Rock ’em, sock’em in real life!

When I was kid, I wasn’t big on staying overnight at my friend’s houses. I scared easily in the night. I liked my own routine. Most important, I liked knowing where the bathroom was.

The one house I didn’t mind staying over, though, was my friend Noah’s house. I loved staying over there because he had Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robot, a two-player action toy with two dueling robot boxers, Red Rocker and Blue Bomber. The goal of the game was to push down on the controller buttons fast enough and often enough to knock the opposing robot’s head up and off the shoulders.

The game sounds rough and tough, but it was actually rather tame. Oh, the crazy games kids enjoy.

Real life Rock ’em, Sock ’em

I’ve been thinking about that old game, because it easily describes the state of politics. The name of the game today is simple: Keep throwing enough hate and innuendo against the other side until his or her head pops off.

Here’s what I mean, we were away last week. We were traveling and didn’t spend a lot of time on social media or even the news for that matter. Of course, we came home and living in a so-called key swing state, it was like walking into a 24/7 barrage. I turned on the TV to watch some college football and it felt like all the low blows and penalties — aka, the half-truths and falsehoods from both political sides — came on during the commercials. You couldn’t avoid them. They are everywhere and have been for months. (In one hour of football, I counted 11 of them, basically one or two every commercial break.)

I know that political ads have always existed. I know that there’s very little you can do to get around it, but they just feel so nasty now. They have gone from pitting candidate against candidate to now pitting neighbor against neighbor.

And yes, I need to be up front, I’ll be voting for Kamala Harris. I lean more conservative on most issues, especially financial ones, but I’m not a fan of former President Donald Trump. I have issues with his treatment of women and his policies, especially those that that help the wealthy. I’ve never been a fan of his lies on easily validated concepts; his bully attacks on those he views weaker than him or people who have the audacity to disagree with his opinion; and his own ego and greed.

Choosing kindness over hatred

Putting Harris and Trump aside, — hopefully you’re still reading — the hatred has filtered down to other races now too. I’ve written in the past that I understand that politics are big business, but I don’t always get it. Yes, it’s the Republicans and the Democratic machines, but when you make it personal, you’re pointing fingers at your neighbor, the guy behind you in the grocery line, or even the woman who drives your kid’s school bus. Is that how little we think of each other?

This is my long way of saying that I yearn for kinder times. I write more about kindness in my post, Kindness all around us! on the Heart of the Matter. I’m convinced that we see Miracles of Kindness every day. We just need to stop and take notice.

Check it out.