Don't Panic...

Some of you nerds of various persuasions may have read "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." It's a novel about, among other things, a reference book called "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." In the story, the Hitchhiker's Guide (the reference book) had a fairly simple cover with the words "Don't Panic" prominently displayed. This had a nice, calming effect, which is always helpful if you suddenly find yourself a space-transient because your planet has just been vaporized. Good advice, I say--Don't Panic.

I still worked for the government during the 2004 election. All but one of us college co-ops voted for President Bush, and the one who didn't was very strong in her convictions and was very sad at the outcome. She actually cried a little bit, right there at work. She was that sad. I was very proud of my fellow co-ops...every single person responded to her with compassion. I really don't remember what we said, even. Nothing remarkable, I'm sure. But I watched everyone convey friendship. Regardless of our different values, outlooks, and bents...we were all "for" our friend and even though we were so happy, we understood the pain of losing something. We might've all gone out to lunch together...we were always looking for reasons to go out to lunch. Because lunch is awesome. My point is, we gave her the space to grieve her loss.

To my friend's credit, her response was gracious as well. There was no begrudging us for our happiness, or berating our reasons for voting the way we did. The election was one part of life, but not all of life. We went on in our jobs, I moved to Massachusetts, and life continued in general.

So be nice, share, and play well with others. Celebrate if you're happy, and grieve if you're not.

But most of all, Don't Panic...