Not Empathizing

 OVER THE YEARS contact with my high school classmates, which decades ago was somewhat consistent, has slowly and steadily decreased, as we grew apart. We graduated nearly fifty years ago. Some of my best high school buddies matured into full blown right wingers, Trump types, and that's a deal breaker for me. For them, I send out birthday greetings and Christmas cheer, and leave it at that. Sometimes, I regress, maybe nostalgia-"istically". The other day I shot my  best baseball bud an email, complaining that modern major league hitters either strike out, balk, or homer, with little in between. He responded by complaining that the pitchers are complaining that their sudden rule enforced inability to put foreign substances, like, sticky heavy jell stuff, on baseball is limiting their ability to make pitches, making them work harder, and causing injury. I haven't heard anything like that, but I'll take his word for it. Then, he launched into Simone Bile, almost as if he wanted to test my response, arouse my liberal wrath, and ignite on of our old right wing left wing disputes, the type which destroyed our friendship decades ago. he echoes the prevailing conservative line, the line being spewed out by hateful vicious right wing talk radio mouths, the line about Simone Biles being a quitter. The conservative seems to be embracing that viewpoint, whereas the liberals are praising her courage in acknowledging honestly that she has emotional problems, and intends to solve those before competing again, not wanting to do damage to her U.S. Olympic teammates in their quest for gold. Once again, an issue which at least ostensibly has no political overtones nor implications becomes a political issue, dividing the country along the usual political cultural lines, stoked as always by talk radio and social media. My original intention was to not take the proffered bait, agree to disagree. But upon further reflection I decided to hook, line, and sinker. My response was: "I don't know enough about what its like to be Simone Biles, about what she's going through, to render judgment as to whether  her withdrawal from Olympic competition was necessary for her health, or whether she is a quitter. I suspect only she knows the answer, and she says that her decision to withdraw was necessary. I have no grounds upon which to question her honesty, and, assuming she is being honest, her withdrawal is no more shameful nor different than Tom Brady missing the 2008 season by breaking his ankle in the first game of the season against the KC Chefs, or Lebron James and Anthony Davis bowing out of action for the Lakers during the NBS playoffs with injuries. I hope he doesn't respond, but if he does, I hope he has suddenly become a human being, rather than a right wing monster.