I work in a sometimes-controversial industry. When it comes to what people eat, they can get provincial, opinionated, argumentative and sometimes downright mean. I often hear people say, “you wouldn’t want to meet my friend, they’re a vegetarian,” in fear that I’m incapable of finding common ground with someone who may fundamentally oppose what I chose as a career path.
I used to be the guy who’d clap back at people who denigrated the agriculture industry, engaging in long back and forths on social media, aggravatingly checking my notifications to see how the person (often someone I’ve never met) opted to respond, and hurriedly pounding out a response with the slightest bit of self-assurance that this was the argument that’d put them in their place and make them understand how wrong and stupid they were.
It never was.
More typically, this would go on and on, pulling a few more innocent bystanders into the conversation with a “...well actually...” and snowballing until you had to begrudgingly separate yourself and move on. It was an exhausting way to spend my online experience.
It took a while, but eventually, I had to ask myself what was I accomplishing? Was I changing hearts and minds, or just showing my ass in the same way that the person who baited me into an argument had when they started it? Or was I just being a dick? Was it worth it?
I still engage in social media, albeit in a lighter version than years past, but I still observe the same behavior in the people I follow. Setting agriculture aside, we’ve all seen an argument play out like I described, and probably more so nowadays, on any matter of subjects; politics, music, sports, and on and on. And again, I come back to the same question: is it worth it?
I think about how an interaction like this would translate to real life (spoiler alert: Twitter is not a substitute for IRL-experiences). Sure, there are plenty of folks whose online anger translates into real life. But stepping away from your keyboard, you realize that most of these arguments don’t happen if you don’t have internet barrier between you, and you probably find more common ground face to face vs. trying to fit your quips into 280 characters. It gets harder to do every day, but I think pausing to realize that what’s going on in your phone apps do not positively reflect the total reality of day to day life can be a bit liberating when your online presence drags you down.
Especially in 2019, when we are bombarded by negativity from all sides 24/7/365, coming up for air from the depths of social media is probably more necessary than ever to keep perspective on the day-to-day.
So, do I actually hate your vegetarian friend? I know several very friendly vegetarians that I can find plenty of common ground outside of meat. We may not see eye-to-eye on some topics, but ultimately, we make our own decisions. I don’t want to be berated for my decisions, so I shouldn’t berate you for yours. Maybe that needs to be the Golden Rule in 2019.
New in my life: I have resolutions and I’ll tell you what they were in 2020, going to cash in those frequent flier miles this year, 2019 will be the year of #fillmyfreezer.
Keep smilin'
Dr. Arp
Travis Arp is an avid writer, hiker and traveler in Colorado. He works as a Senior Director at the US Meat Export Federation. When he's not traveling abroad working to better the US meat industry, he's either out on a mountainous trail with his wife and two dogs or enjoying a cold craft beer a local brewery.
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