A Republican and a Catholic Walk Into A Pizza Joint...

Morning BoBo,

So I find that my mind is already flowing with topics, things to tell you, things to wait on.  What's appropriate when, etc.  I chose my topic this morning over others because I thought of a catchy title.  Never stand in the way of creativity, lest ye drown in ideas.

Proceeding on,

There are three things in life people will never completely agree upon.  The first two are commonly known: Politics and Religion.  The third, lesser known yet equally important is Pizza Toppings.  Take this seriously now, for I am not wrong.

An okay relationship will have the couple agreeing upon one, a great relationship will find that they agree upon two.  Only very epic relationships will reach an accord upon all three topics.  Seriously.  I don't think Adam and Eve would have agreed on all three.  Eve would have wanted apples on her pizza and there you have it, our current predicament.

The disturbing thing that I have noticed is that while we are ever expanding our pizza choices, we seem to be narrowing down our choices in the other two fields.

Every day I see more pizza places.  And though you'd think the recipe for pizza is pretty basic, they all taste different, and, if you can have an open mind, they all taste different in beautiful ways.  Also, gone are the days of do you want pepperoni or do you want cheese?  Now, you can have salami, or two different kinds of sausage, barbecue chicken, ground beef, you name it.  Cheese?  How about a Tuscan 6 Cheese Blend?  Maybe feta or blue cheese.  And crusts?  Thin crust, hand tossed, pan, stuffed crust with cheese in it, stuffed crust with pepperoni in it, or even a double layer stuff pizza!  Don't want tomato sauce?  How about alfredo?  Or olive oil?  And the veggies (and fruits) list is unending.  Even the average person, when asked, might need a frame of reference for their favorite pizza toppings.  I myself have always enjoyed mushrooms, but I like them cooked, not raw.  If I could choose anything at a standard delivery pizza chain, I'd probably select something simple like pork sausage and maybe mushrooms.  But expand the parameters to a place like Goomba's or Sorrento (these places had better still be around when you read this or a little Italian part of me will be so sad) and suddenly my favorite toppings are artichoke, garlic, feta and meatball.  Point?  There are a lot of kinds of pizza, and even if you don't agree with someone on your favorites, you might be able to reach a compromise.  Or have a half and half.  Or maybe get two pizzas.  Either way everyone's happy.

Conversely, Religion and Politics both seem to be taking a very black and white approach these days, especially in the United States.  You are either a Christian or you are not.  You are a Republican or you are a Democrat.  And you HAVE to be one.  And you HAVE to be the one that I say you should be.  I noticed this less in Vermont than I do in Texas, but people are big on converting you in both cases.  This is why these topics have become something to be avoided in polite conversation and something that must be agreed upon to get along.  And I think that's sad.

You watch Sid the Science Kid all the time and there's a holiday episode where Sid talks about how his family celebrates Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.  Based on what your Dad and I have pieced together (we take an odd joy in figuring out the off-show details of Sid's life), Sid's mom is African American and celebrated both Kwanzaa and Christmas growing up. Sid's dad appears to be Caucasian and he grew up Jewish.  Because of this, they celebrate all the holidays and Sid benefits from the knowledge of these different religions and cultures.  (Not to mention lots of presents!)  I think that's very cool (the knowledge, not the presents, but those are cool too).  And I wish that more people could handle it in "real" life.  As a side note, Sid's parents have not revealed any clue as to their political affiliation to date, but our research continues.

All these rambling lead me to my point:  try to be open minded.  I've always found myself to be more spiritual than religious. I find many things about many religions beautiful and I find some things about several of them to be very screwed up.  I believe in God and I think he or she can be different for different people and that's about as far as I've gotten.  I fancied myself a Republican until we moved to Vermont and I got a really fresh dose of perspective and then I fancied myself a Democrat.  Now I fancy myself disappointed in the whole system and landing on both sides of the fence where the issues are concerned.

Relating to all topics even more broadly: Don't limit yourself; listen to what others have to say.  And feel free to ignore it if it's not your cup of tea.  But don't dismiss an idea instantly because it isn't yours.  You never know when you'll be surprised by how you feel when you give yourself time to think.  Unless that idea is anchovies.  I'm not sure that's ever a good idea.  But if you do decide you like anchovies, your dad and I will let you order them, on your pizza.

Your Dad and I are lucky because we agree on these topics and on almost everything else in this world, but if you find someone who doesn't like your pizza, don't lose heart.  Your Dad usually gets thin crust and I love pan but we both like stuffed crust or hand tossed (regular, with a fancy name).  He doesn't like mushrooms and I'm not a huge fan of banana peppers, but we'll both be really happy with a chicken bacon ranch or a sausage and pepperoni.  And if we have Papa John's, I always give him my peperoncini.  You do these things when you love someone.

Lots of love,

Your Mommy