Blog: Summer of Split Opinions

"So you agree with him? You don't like gay people?" Was the question posed to me. It was a message board which I frequent and it annoyed me a little that this conversation had leaked into the tiny cracks of internet that I call home. I had to answer the question, even though the question was from an anonymous person, I had to respect it.

"No, I mean, it's his chain. He can say what he wants." A proverbial noose was drawing around my neck, and I knew it. But I had one foot in the social grave, and the other in a pile of what I hoped to be mud. This was not how I envisioned my Summer on the net.

Rewind a few weeks back and the entire picture becomes clear. In Mid-to-Late June, Chick-Fil-A's Chief Operating Officer Dan Cathy made some comments that the LGBT community disliked, as well as cut ties with the Jim Henson Company. Social Media runs ablaze, with supporters and opposition. 

Sooner rather than later, I begin to check Twitter and Facebook, noticing that my friends and family are beginning to post their own opinions on the matter, which is great. Yet I look forward to the coming school year, with a sort of dark ominous cloud hanging over it. Words over Facebook have caused fights before but could this be the spark that lights high school ablaze? 

Then I think to myself, where in this argument do I fall? After a few days of wondering whether or not I oppose gay marriage or support it (the result being an enthusiastic, "Don't see the harm in supporting it.") the next part was finding out whether or not I supported Cathy's words. After another week of thought on it, I realized that I was indifferent and a little annoyed by boycotts. In my opinion the people truly hurt by the Chick-Fil-A boycotts (I've read that some Kiss-Ins culminate with purchases) are the cashiers and cooks who have to be on the frontlines every day, the Uniformed Poultry Soldiers. That's my take on the matter.

The reason why this whole ordeal leaves this summer with more of a sour taste than usual is the Us vs. Them outline of the entire ordeal. With both sides I'm feeling more pressured than I've ever felt in a school environment. The biggest question is perhaps, what's left for the 27th, the first day of school. Will the opinions from the net spread over to the place where it really matters, the real world? Or will these just be tight-lipped whispers left for Facebook and Friendster? Only time will tell, but dark cloud or not, enjoy the rest of your Summer.