Baseball and Smart Conversation

As I write this, the Nationals are playing baseball in eleventh inning overtime. Normally I wouldn't be watching; I'm not big on televised sports, which is unfortunate because I've watched a lot of televised sports. My ex-husband and all three sons are and have always been, big fans of their Washington teams. Even my mom would hoot and holler for the Redskins. I don't mind watching live sporting events, especially hockey, but on TV they do nothing for me. Still, if there is a game on, I (almost) always let my sons turn it on if they ask. And they do always ask. If I wanted to watch something, I would refuse, but I don't usually care about television anyway. So since my son and his girlfriend were here all afternoon and evening, my television has been an endless stream of football and baseball today.

My son (really all of them) get so caught up in whatever game is on that they pay little attention to anything else that's going on, which isn't always a bad thing. His girlfriend and I had a lively discussion about welfare, subsidized housing, and the minimum wage. Mostly we agree, but I played devil's advocate on some minor points. I can see more than one side of this issue -- for example, ways welfare works and ways it doesn't -- but ultimately I don't have a solution. Neither does she. But it was good to talk about important social issues with someone who thinks and who acknowledges that there can be more than one "right" side to an argument. I think that in general, people engage in far too little of this kind of discourse. I was lucky to engage twice today in such talk.

I met up with my friend for brunch; she pays a lot more attention to local and state politics than I do, so I let myself become educated over fish and chips at my favorite diner. (She had shrimp and grits.) My break from routine was a celebration of sorts; I finally finished my mom's estate filing paperwork, had it notarized, and sent it off from FedEx this morning. That is a big deal! And one I'm glad to have behind me. My friend I went out to brunch with lost her mom a few years ago, and understood my elation at having gotten that business behind me. Anyway, I'm glad to have friends and family who are willing to talk about important things and not-so-important things. My sons are terrific conversationalists, but I know their perspectives on many issues is colored by my having raised them, and are mostly aligned with mine. So, especially since I live alone and work from home, talking with people of different backgrounds enriches my understanding of and opinion on a variety of topics. That's probably the part of teaching I miss most -- the sharing of ideas -- and it feels good to find that again.