Stepping Up

 IN 1980, when I was twenty five, my beloved Yankees lost to Kansas City in the playoffs, and went on to the World Series. I was crushed. Somebody gave me a ticket to the World Series. Somehow, it didn't seem right. I contacted a friend of mine who is a strong Kansas City fan, shook his hand in congratulations, and handed him my ticket. He attended. I felt great.  The day after Trump defeated Hillary, I made a point of congratulating my Trump supporter frenimies and congratulating them, though heartbroken. During my long and illustrious amateur tennis career, I had to shake hands and accept the second place trophy more often that I wanted. Once, i walked to the net and held out my hand to a guy who beta me after spending the entire match falsely accusing me of cheating him. He refused my offer. At least he was consistent. An asshole to the very end. My purpose here is not to praise myself for my magnanimity, but to make a point. I am no more virtuous, and no less prone to bad behavior than most people. But I know how I was raised, i was raised to take the high road, and for that I am grateful to my parents. As I have aged, I have grown less tolerant. Intolerance, however, is often a virtue. I grew up surrounded by racists and homophobes. I wasn't concerned about it. We still had fun playing baseball, hanging out together. I could ignore their bigotry; nobody was making me agree with it.  Now, not only do I condemn and avoid bigots, I stay away from conservatives, Trump supporters, Republicans, and religious fanatics, because I don't like nor approve of their attitudes and beliefs. On the day when I meet my maker, I hope I remember those moments, those moments when I reached a higher level of nobility than I might have wanted to. it hasn't always been easy. I often have to force myself to become a better person than I want to. Ultimately, the memories of our experiences are our only remaining possessions. Donald Trump evidently wasn't raised the way I was. Maybe he was raised to throw temper tantrums in the back seat of a limo. had I ever tried that crap, i would have tried it only once. I was raised to respect people until the moment when they prove they no longer merit my respect, as often happens. I do not respect Donald Trump, and I do not respect anyone who supports him. Trump trying to steal the election instead of shaking hands with Biden is the last straw on the back of a camel laden with tons of straw. I was raised to treat people properly, respectfully, whether or not they deserve it, which, often, they do not. Donald Trump and his supporters were evidently raised to be poor losers and liar.I'm glad I was not.