Friends, Neighbors Navigate Tricky Political Divide As Nation Waits For Results
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It's been a challenging week for many navigating the political landscape post-election day as we wait for results on who will be the next President. That's especially true for friends, family and neighbors with differing views.
Rice County split votes for President Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Voters there shared how they're handling relationships with people that have opposing views.
The signs are still there in Faribault, showing which candidate people support.
"We have family, they are on one of the sides or on another side," Hector Perez said.
He found a way to move forward.
"We need to respect others decision. Everybody has the right to think as an individual," Perez said.
But the messages out there aren't all nice during this time.
"Everybody's got different thoughts," Lori Mickelson said.
She tries to avoid talking politics if she knows it will be a hot topic.
"You just go to learn to get along. Not everybody is going to get their way. Right now I think there's a lot of people acting like 2-year-olds having a tantrum on the ground," Mickelson said.
Psychologist Dr. Cheryl Bemel says it's healthy to acknowledge this is tough.
"We say family is everything and then suddenly I'm disowning my family or blocking friends. It's really important we avoid all-or-nothing thinking," Bemel said.
She says an option would be to offer to agree to disagree or ask to talk to understand the others perspective.
"We've gotten through this before. We will get through this again but the goal is to get through it unscathed," Bemel said.
Bemel also says there are things we can do for ourselves during this time. Practice self-care, safely socialize, exercise and she says if emotions surrounding the election begin to interfere with everyday life, it's a good idea to contact a health care provider to work on coping skills.