It’s bound to happen, you’re sitting in the dining room with all of your family, ready to eat a nice Christmas meal. All of a sudden your uncle starts talking about how Colin Kaepernick is ruining America, or how all these rape stories are a trend for women to get attention, or how we need to start making America great again. And with horror, you realize nearly your entire family agrees.
What do you do? How do you deal with trump-train relatives while still managing to have an enjoyable Christmas? Is it even possible?
1. Change the subject.
As fast as you can, turn their attention elsewhere. The second you hear a family member say build that wall, shut it down with some sort of non-political nonsense, anything to avoid the dreaded conversation.
2. Tune it out.
If changing the subject fails, and the political debates have begun among all of your old, drunk family members, ignore it. Instead, focus on all of the Christmas cookies you’re going to eat later, or how much money you’re going to get as gifts from your family, or, if you’re really frustrated, excuse yourself to properly handle your anguish:
3. Civilly express your disagreement, and confidently explain how you feel.
If you’re not the type to sit back and listen, you can try engaging in the conversation. Explain your point of view, your values and beliefs, and most importantly, facts and figures. Make sure to end with an honest opinion of how you feel about your relatives’ opinions.
4. Fight.
If all else fails, and you’re too passionate to let this argument slide, feel free to engage in a loud, heated political debate. Just don’t expect to make a change, and don’t expect your family members to actually listen. But if you need to scream and yell to let out your anger with the current state of America, by all means, enjoy yourself.
5. Call for silence, end the debate by telling everyone to be quiet and enjoy their meal instead.
When the shouting escalates, and everyone is no doubt seconds away from throwing a punch, end it. It’s become clear the debate is pointless, exhausting and frustrating, so set a rule of no more politics during the family party. It’s probably best for everyone.
6. Hide.
Do what you should have done in the first place. Sneak some food and drinks up to your room with the help of your favorite cousins and escape all of the drama of family politics. Instead, eat some Christmas cookies and play Mario Kart in peace.
With the ever-present disagreements between the two political parties right now, the holidays can be a rough time for families. Everyone wants to voice their own opinion which is sure to lead to fights. There’s always this looming thought in our head when sitting down for dinner with family:
However, hopefully, you can find a way to navigate away from the rough waters of political debate, and instead, enjoy a fun and peaceful holiday with your family.
Happy holidays, collegiettes!