The third grade team had an interesting, energetic discussion about the war at lunch today. Our team is made up of (if I may be so vulgar as to generalize for a moment):
1 religious right
1 conservative
2 fairly strong liberals
1 hippy freak (yeah...that's me)
and 3 unknowns

We were able to discuss the war for nearly 45 minutes with everyone expressing their opinion, respecting the opinions of others and being respected. We obviously disagreed about many things, but we managed to do so in a polite, honest, mature manner. There was no name calling, no shouting and no insulting behaviour. I made a point of thanking them for being the kind of people who could participate in a lively, intelligent discussion without the general nastiness that seems to have blanketed the world. I am incredibly lucky to have such wonderful peers.