Say “what?!” again!

I’ve had exactly one conversation about the news since the start of the semester that I didn’t start. It went something like this.

ME: hi, hows it going.

THEM: good, what can I get for you today?

ME: can I please get a bowl to go, brown rice, double pinto beans, no meat…

ANOTHER CHIPOTLE WORKER: yo, guys! Kobe Bryant is dead!

EVERYONE: What?!

The workers all paused and gathered around the worker who had the news open on his phone, most of them visibly upset by the death of the NBA icon. One of them got chastised for not knowing who Bryant was.

THEM: I’m sorry dude, I need a minute

ME: no worries, what does the news say?

THEM: helicopter crash, his daughter…

My lunch may have been delayed, but I can’t really say that I minded. No one else has talked to me about the news without me saying something first since my return to Stevens this spring, and that worries me to no end. A kind of resigned silence has taken over campus, talking about the news has become almost taboo, and there are more heated discussions on the anonymous Instagram pages than anywhere else. This isn’t unique to Stevens — the situation was almost as bad back home in Connecticut, and it seems most of the country has collectively decided it isn’t worth wasting their breath or even paying attention (in fairness, I did have a few very expansive political discussions while home, not all started by me, but these were the exception to the norm).

We almost went to war a month ago! With Iran, a country with a nuclear history! I was working my old restaurant job back home while news of the missile strikes was airing. My head was racing with fears of me or my brother getting caught up in a new draft. Would there be an exemption for college students like in Vietnam? Would his community college night classes be enough to qualify? Would I enlist to join him if it wasn’t? The few patrons at the bar were far more concerned with the basketball game on the other screen. Back in the kitchen? Silence.

The Coronavirus, the extremely one-sided Middle East Peace Plan, the USMCA (the new trade deal), the Democratic primaries, and most importantly, the Impeachment Trial. I’ve had a few sparse conversations about these topics, all started by me, but for the most part everyone around me is acting like nothing is going on. The general sentiment seems to be deterministic, that the outcome has already been decided and nothing can be done. However, that sentiment is nothing but a self-fulfilling prophecy — it gives lawmakers a free pass to continue doing what they’re doing; it signals that we, the American public, no longer give a damn. It is the product of three years of Trumpism, of “fake news,” alternative facts, and ideological burnout. It is unspeakably dangerous when it makes the state of the world itself unspeakable. It is fundamentally wrong.

So, here is my challenge to you today: when you hear about something in the news that bothers you, say “what?!” Then say it again! Say it until you fully understand the issue that bugged you, then tell what you learned to whoever will listen. Make them say “what?!” and encourage them to say it again, encourage them to understand and tell their friends. It doesn’t matter if you are a liberal or a conservative, a moderate or a radical — if we accept that we cannot talk to each other than nothing will ever change. The country will continue to become more polarized until we ignore our way straight into a full-fledged civil war. If you think that sounds crazy, think about where the country will be after another four years of a post-Impeachment Trump. The future is not predetermined — if the outcome you currently see bothers you, than say something about it. Don’t block witnesses and documents in your own mental trial of everything going on around you.

Say “what?!” again.