Politics & Facebook don't mix...

Don't worry, I'm not going to post anything about my political beliefs here.  I also don't post anything political to Facebook.  Nor do I generally "like" anything political (ads or statuses) on Facebook.  And the story I'm about to tell is exactly why.

My brother posted a status the other day.  It was completely harmless with no agenda whatsoever.  The basic point was that we should respect whoever is IN office, no matter what party we associate with.  And that he was sick of all the FB posts.  That's it.

I will admit that I "liked" the status, as did several other people.  I didn't notice, though, that several people also decided to comment on the status.  Oh, and boy did they comment!

My mom called me the other day, asking if I'd seen all the comments.  I had not.  Anyway, she was quite upset by something another relative (Dad's side of the family) said in the comments.  To be fair, what he said was completely straight out of crazy town.  But still.  So then she went on and on about how much she can't stand that family and how she's so glad she's not a part of that family and blah blah blah.

I told her I'd have to go and check out the comments and that it did sound like this relative's comment was out of line or whatever.  And then I said, "Can you please think about what you're saying when you say 'I am so glad not to be a part of that family and I can't stand them'?  Because I am a part of that family.  I have the same last name."  She instantly tried to hang up on me.  I stopped her and said, "You don't get to call and express your opinion/feelings on something and then hang up on me when I try to share mine."

Anyway, the end result was her hanging up on me.  Awesome.  And I wasn't disagreeing with her at all.  I was simply asking that she not be disrespectful of my family.  Hey, if she wants to call her best friend and rant about how horrible my family is...she can go ahead.  But, in my opinion, she should NOT be sharing those feelings with me or my siblings.  It's wrong and I'm at a point where I just won't allow it.  While I disagree with that relative's comment, I also know them to be a good person.  And, they are my FAMILY.  

So, thank you, politics and FB, for making things awkward.