Sister Discussion

My sister and I are having our usual, passionate, disagreement about politics. It is all by email since we live in different states. This morning, I was thinking about what we would say to each other if we were in the same room, and came to the conclusion that it is better that we have to email each other. If we were in the same room, we would both try to talk at the same time, overriding the point the other one was trying to make. Tempers would flare (of course, only one of us has a temper and it surely isn't me), and we would most likely end up in a shouting match, with one or both of us storming off in frustration because we couldn't get the other to see the light.

When we have to communicate by email, each can take as much time as we need to read the point the other is trying to make, and think through our responses; no one is shouting anyone else down and we are able to remain calm and rational. I don't believe that either one of us will change the other one's mind, but at least we are able to read the other's thoughts carefully and fully instead of going off half-cocked, thinking the other one is a total idiot. I do worry that this discussion may be pushing one of us further to the right and the other further left, but if that's the result, so be it. I also believe it is bringing us closer together as sisters, and, to me, that's the most important thing.