Point: Brunch is closed for good

The year 2020 has been a year that will not be forgotten. We’ve been struck with the continuation of systemic racism and a pandemic, of all things. It is true, brunch is closed. We won’t be sipping down mimosas, eating lemon-ricotta pancakes. No, instead, our brunch time will be filled with continuing to march and protest for equality (and if you’re not doing that, brunch is still closed due to the pandemic—stay home, wear a mask.) But despite brunch being closed, our activism taking its stead, lunch is still being served. And after all of our hard work, we need to share a meal together.

Today, American society is growing increasingly more politically charged, and increasingly more divided. We have polarized ourselves to oblivion, and division has become our way of life. But this is not what we need. Our society needs unity, but more so, it needs understanding, and with understanding comes compromise.

Confrontation and disagreement are equally likely to occur in our interactions and are both unavoidable. But compromise and moderation are necessary. I will say in agreement, however, that there are disagreements and opinions that cannot be tolerated. Racist, sexist, homophobic, violent ideologies—much like what has been used under the Trump administration—are not perspectives that can be compromised on. They have caused too much harm to too many families and communities. They are hateful. They are divisive.

But despite the things that are intolerable, there are plenty of concepts that are compromisable. And for those that we can compromise on, we should. This is not to say that you must accept every opinion that comes your way. But you must be open.

If we are unwilling to compromise, if we are unwilling to meet our opponents where they’re at and likewise, then we are only further contributing to the division of our nation. We will whittle away at the middle of our ideologies until we’re left with nothing but extremism. I can’t always be right and neither can you. If we continue to approach our disagreements with the mindset that the opposite is true, then the needle will remain stagnant—no one wins. We must meet opposition with understanding and a willingness to listen and to learn.

Biden’s getting elected does not call for us to let go of what we believe. If anything, his being elected calls for us to continue our activism and to continue making our voices heard, pushing the boundaries to achieve what needs to be achieved, demonstrating that some causes need to be relentlessly fought for, no matter whose presidency the nation is under. But if there is one thing his being elected does tell us, it’s that the nation is tired of division.

We are tired of the disagreements, the finger-pointing, the blaming. We need to follow through on this sentiment and not be the cause of the very thing that we despise. On some issues, we need to be willing to meet halfway, or we’ll all just end up going home. It is true, brunch is closed. But sit down to lunch instead, and when someone next to you offers you mayonnaise for your fries, try a little bit, and maybe they’ll try their fries with some of your ketchup. Who knows, maybe it’s delicious.