I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes when I was sitting at McAlister’s Deli and got a news alert that Trump, the President of the United States, had called Haiti, El Salvador and countries in Africa “s—hole countries.” I never thought I would see the day when I heard such a horrendous statement come from the Oval Office. I’m not going to say that whoever is the president has to be perfect. “To err is to human,” as Alexander Pope once said, but this is outright defaming these poor countries. What’s even worse is that this is not the first time we have heard this kind of talk come from this administration. Trump has repeatedly bashed people, including those in his own party, on Twitter.

This kind of hate that is oozing from the Oval Office cannot be allowed to permeate through the country and the world. I understand that we all say things from time to time that are rude or come off differently than we anticipated, but I don’t think Trump is having slips of the tongue every time he takes to Twitter to trash someone else. We, as Americans, need to do what we can to help spread love and come together as one nation. We cannot let the world believe that this man speaks for us all. For that to happen, we have to unite and come together, even with those we disagree with.

I’m talking to you, liberal, and to you, conservative. Instead of yelling at each other and saying that other’s opinions shouldn’t be heard because you disagree or someone might be offended, why don’t you sit down, maybe over some delicious coffee, and peacefully discuss your opinion and honestly listen to each other and try to understand where the other is coming from?

I’m talking to you, Christian, and to you, atheist. You both have very different belief systems, which is what we want in an open society like ours, but instead of bringing up scriptures and scientific facts to hurl back and forth at each other, why don’t you pull up a table next to the liberal and the conservative, get yourself a cup of joe, and civilly discuss your viewpoints and beliefs. I think you’ll learn more from each other than if you had been screaming back and forth for a couple of hours.

And, yes, I’m talking to you, President Trump, and I’m talking to you, everyone who disagrees with him. I personally see where you both come from (whether I agree or not with you, *cough* Trump *cough*, is another matter), but are we hearing one another and debating, or are we just sending angry tweets back and forth and screaming at each other without solving the problem? While you might need a slightly bigger table, pull up some chairs, keep the coffee brewing and LISTEN to each other. We cannot spend the next two years in this state of disarray and division. So, put away the executive orders for a second, lower the signs for just a little bit and give one another a chance to present their arguments as to why they think what they are doing is right. Listen to each other and figure out how we, as the people and government of the United States of America, can live in peace and harmony with one another. The time for this unnecessary violence, bigotry and division is over. It’s time to come together, everyone.