Poolside From PS

Perhaps We’re Both Right: November 2025

The other day I was having my teeth cleaned. My hygienist, who does a wonderfully thorough job (ouch), and I frequently talk in between the bouts of scraping and digging. This particular day our conversation turned toward the state of the world – specifically our political globe.

At one point, she leaned in and in barely a whisper uttered, “I really like Trump. I’ve never seen a person love his country so much.”

It was a good thing I didn’t have cotton or anything else in my mouth, as I would have choked on it and wouldn’t be here to write this piece. That said, I quickly realized we had ventured into unchartered territory, one I wasn’t sure I was entirely comfortable with.

Once I loosened my grip on the dentist’s chair, I took a deep calming breath.

As we talked, I mostly listened, stated my perspective at times, and in the end, was pleasantly surprised. My blood pressure hadn’t risen, I remained calm and I still felt that most was good in the world.

Wonder how I managed to get through a politically charged conversation relatively unscathed?

You see, a few months ago, I listened to a few episodes of Governor Newsom’s podcast. On this show, he interviews those from the far right to get their perspective on how things in the country are going.

I was pleasantly surprised that many of their opinions were not that far from my thoughts, not exactly mine but none were unbelievable. I quickly realized if you take the “heat” out of a statement and simply have a conversation, it is easier to consider “the other side.”

A social media posting reaffirmed my thought. It read: “Just because you are right doesn’t mean the other side is wrong. You just haven’t seen life from their angle.”

I viewed these occurrences as a reminder that there are always two sides to every story. I thought: Just when did we get so intolerant of other people’s opinions? We used to be able to have political conversations without injecting hate.

I harkened back to other presidencies. Sure, there had been plenty of times when I didn’t agree with other leaders, but I was always able to have conversations with people without my hackles being raised and wanting to take them down on the mat.

What I came to appreciate is that this president is so polarizing, so loud and so counter to the principals which I was raised upon, that I can’t help but want to scream at the top of my lungs.

I also realized that like most things in life, this too shall pass.

When I encountered this thought, something clicked in my brain and it hasn’t ratcheted back. I learned I can have a conversation with someone who has a different perspective and not get all crazy for coco pops.

This was proven in my conversation with the hygienist. At the end of the cleaning, she said, “Manny, I’m so glad we could have this conversation. That the two of us could just talk and not get all crazy.” Strangely, I felt the same way too.

Granted, I don’t need to have those conversations every time I’m in the chair, but it felt very healthy to be able to talk with someone from a different perspective and not have it affect me as deeply as so many of these conversations have in the past.

I recently shut down my X/Twitter/FormerlyKnownAsPrince account which I used for writing purposes as it had become such a bastion of hate. One day, I simply realized I didn’t need to add kerosene to an already burning fire. I checked my “temperature” a week later, and surprisingly I felt more optimistic and at peace. Not having to be constantly reminded of all the divisiveness in this country is just as healing as watching a marathon of The Sound of Music backed by Annie and ending with Pollyanna.

There is so much craziness happening not only in this country, but all over the world. The annals of history will bear this out. That said, every now and then I get a glimpse that the world despite all its messiness can still be a thing of beauty, and that every human being’s opinion is valid. So, in the end, perhaps we’re both right.

And, with that, I end this as Poolside from PS.