Writer's Block: Secret Ballot

[jehanni]

Sadly, my husband, who went out to vote earlier than I did, reported some minor vandalism in our neighborhood. Overnight, someone stole or removed our Obama-Biden yard sign (but left the one for Mark Warner for Senator, which was right next to it). When I drove to work, about four blocks further down our street, someone had hung one of the large

Comments

[jehanni]

You said "Sure it was extremely wrong..." So you learned something--and probably several things. I think it's important to learn to respect other people's right to have an opinion that's different from yours. However, there are ways to express those opinions that are constructive, and ways that are rude. Stealing signs out of other people's yards is rude...and it's also illegal. Not a habit you want to get into, in my opinion--and you may have already decided about that yourself.

If you buy the sign yourself, it is your property, and you can express your opinion with it. However, I also think that it's worthwhile to consider the larger context of expressing your opinion. Will it offend or frighten people? Will it make them think? Will it incite them to action?

I'm an artist, and a writer, and I feel strongly that an American strength is the freedom of expression. Some opinions are not popular, and some statements and artworks are intentionally controversial in order to provoke action, reaction, and conversation.

Living is a learning process to me, and teenage years are a time when lots of people experiment with boundaries...but consider whether that makes it an acceptable excuse....and also know that plenty of adults occasionally do stupid things, too. What matters (to me) is what you learn from it.