Having a polite conversation

I was taught that when having a conversation, you should never talk about politics or religion. Although I generally still follow this rule for the most part, I have found that these rules do not apply while living in a rural community.

Whether I want to be or not, I find myself in plenty of conversations about both topics and do enjoy discussing them mostly. I believe this rule of etiquette was most likely followed to save many a dinner party from becoming an outright brawl. Wars have continued to be waged over both topics throughout history.

I am ashamed to admit when I was a teenager, and into early adulthood, I was a Democrat. Gasp! It’s ok to chuckle here, I was young and dumb as an average teenager. Although, I am continually surprised by the mature political attitudes of the teenagers from the community of Olney and surrounding areas. I am starting to be less surprised by how great the youth of Olney are just because I am starting to finally understand just how great the youth are raised in rural America. Most that I have met are well mannered, respect the law, respect their elders and are just plain courteous.

Back to my misspent youth as it was. I was a Democrat because I didn’t understand what that meant. I was immature politically. I have been taking care of myself and working since I was 15 years old. Even had to drop out of school after the 9th grade to work. I later worked hard and obtained my GED but it just isn’t the same and I missed some of the best years of my life I have found out. Covering a lot of Cub sports and seeing just what I missed, as far as things go, is disappointing to say the least, but that’s another story.

When I was young, I did work and my thought process politically was I wanted all the help I could get and that’s what the Democrats always tout, we will take care of you. At the time little did I know I was taking care of myself and did not need any help from the government. I believe I was almost 30 when I switched to be a conservative republican. I realized that I indeed can, and do provide for myself, and it was not right to ask my fellow citizens to support me financially. To do so would make me a burden on my fellow citizen.

This is the land of opportunity and always will be as long as we fight to keep those in office who would protect our freedoms and economy. You can be, do or achieve anything you want in this country as long as you’re willing to work hard for it. As a mature conservative republican, I do not want anyone free loading off my hard work and I want to keep America free as it was intended to be. There are instances when some may need a helping hand, but for those who abuse the help supplied will always be a burden on our great nation.

This is Will B. saying pull yourself up by the bootstraps and take pride in knowing you worked hard for what you have or achieved.