This is an odd topic for my blog, which is focused mostly to Learning and Development. However, I wanted to share how I’m working through the fact that Donald Trump is going to be our next president.

I’ve had to take a day, and hours of 80s music, to process my thoughts about the election. Here they are:

The time for ranting is over. It’s done.

I did not want Trump to win, but he did. The people who voted for him are Americans, just as are the people who voted against him. Some of my friends are Trump supporters…no nasty comments.

I get where a lot of them are coming from. Until 4 years ago, I was a Midwesterner.

The Midwest where our styles are dictated from the east and west coasts. Where what we watch on TV is created and set on the east and west coasts. Where the music we listen to comes from the coasts (well, except for Country and Western, but you guys get the point).

And if anything does make it mainstream, it is from Chicago. Always Chicago. Do you guys know that Chicagoans think Southern Illinois begins at Kankakee?

Growing up, I wanted to scream, “when is anyone going to pay attention to us?”

That said, I am not happy about Trump winning. However, I imagine what I’m feeling now is what others felt when Obama won.

So here is what I want from you guys:

• Be CIVIL, not hate-filled.
• LISTEN to others with an open mind.
• If you don’t understand something, ASK with GENUINE CURIOSITY, not preconceived ideas.
• Do NOT gloat.

Remember, this is America. The land of immigrants, the land of democracy, the land of diversity.

Be the American you want the world to see and embrace. Show the world that yes, we’ve just finished a really really nasty election, but we are still the greatest country in the world.

And remember, if you don’t like who won, get involved in the next elections.

This started as a post on Facebook. One of my friends asked the following:

“However, I imagine what I’m feeling now is what others felt when Obama won.”
Did the opposite of the KKK endorse and celebrate Obama’s win? Is there an opposite? I imagine it almost impossible for White people to feel the way Latinos, African-Americans, or LGBT feel right now.

This is an insightful question that is forcing me to clarify my thinking, which is a post for another day.