Polarization: We Can’t See Each Other
My name is Sarah, and I want to share a story with you about my life. I am a part-time fitness instructor and also recently opened a small pottery studio in a beautiful small town in the mid-west. I’m from a huge city and moved to a small town because I loved the community vibe, cute main street, and thought the bubbling art scene would be a great fit for the pottery studio.
A lot of my new neighbors are avid hunters and there’s a huge blood sport scene in my area. I don’t mind hunting, but I personally don’t hunt. I have always seen the hunting community as part of the small town culture and have discovered that I actually have a lot in common with those in the hunting community: I often find that we love to laugh, have a good time, and a lot us of enjoy watching the same sports team.
One day one of my new neighbors was ribbing me - probably because I was wearing my city uniform of black yoga pants and a black crew neck while eating a salad I tossed earlier - about only eating ‘bird food’. I laughed back and said, “I know, I know - but I’m actually a vegetarian.”
Soon I noticed more of my neighbors start to make small remarks about my eating preferences. One day a group of hunters came into the studio - neighbors I knew from around town - and they joked, “hey Sarah, if we came to your house for dinner, would you make us steak?”
I smiled and sighed back, “guys, I’m not one of those annoying vegetarians whose going to try and tell you you eating meat is messing up the whole ecosystem - I’m not a vegan, haha! I just have found vegetarianism to be a healthy choice for me. I mean, you guys know that I’m a fitness instructor too, so if I were your coach I might encourage you about the health benefits of vegetarianism. But honestly, no - if you came over to my house and I was prepping the food I wouldn’t make any steaks.”
They kind of bauked at my answer but left it at that. The next week an article came out in the local paper from an opinion columnist who encouraged the community to not frequent my pottery studio because I had moved into town to disrupt the hunting industry and I would be using my big city connections to try and get elected officials in office to prevent hunting rights.
I was blown away. I was so confused. At first, I laughed, and then I called up one of my neighbors to try and figure out what in the world was going on. She sighed and said, “I’m sorry, honey, you know how the rumor mill in these small towns can get.”
In the months that followed, my whole world fell apart after the article. The local hunter’s association started leading boycotts outside of my pottery studio with signs that read:
YOU’RE THREATENING OUR RIGHTS
THIS PLACE DOESN’T SUPPORT OUR FAMILY VALUES
GET OUT OF OUR TOWN
I was hurt, confused, and totally overwhelmed. Soon, the friends I had made were afraid to be seen with me. I kept trying to explain that I didn’t care anything about local politics and had no desire to do anything to disrupt the local hunting rights. It wasn’t my job to try and make everyone become vegetarians just because that’s how I ate and what I thought was a healthy lifestyle.
Business slowed to a stop, and soon even the local artists who were selling their work in our pottery store had to stop.
After everything we’ve been through, I somehow still love this place. I love that I can see the stars at night. I love how beautiful Main Street is at Christmas time. I still want to follow through with the dream of the pottery studio here, but often wonder if there’s any way. Should I just go?
