https://padlet.com/19overton/gr6rmn1exlo0 Danny, Joyce, and Cayla en-us 2019-05-07 15:50:15 UTC 2019-05-07 16:15:50 UTC hello@padlet.com 19overton https://padlet.com/19overton/gr6rmn1exlo0/wish/357704032 When have you or someone you know shown too much compassion, or perhaps not enough? ]]> 2019-05-07 16:14:20 UTC https://padlet.com/19overton/gr6rmn1exlo0/wish/357704032 19overton https://padlet.com/19overton/gr6rmn1exlo0/wish/357704810     Erma kept stirring the beans. "Keep this up and people are going to think you're a n----- lover," she said.
    She gave me a serious look, as if imparting a meaningful life lesson I should ponder and absorb.  She unscrewed the cap from her bottle of hooch and took a long, contemplative swallow.
    As I watched her drinking, I felt this pressure building in my chest and I had to let it out. "You're not supposed to use that word," I said.
    Erma's face went slack with astonishment.
    "Mom says they're just like us," I continued, "except they have different complexions."
    Erma glared at me. I thought she was going to backhand me, but instead she said, "You ungrateful little shit. I'll be damned if you're eating my food tonight. Get your worthless ass down to the basement."


Lori gave me a hug when she heard I'd told off Erma. Mom was upset, though. "We may not agree with all of Erma's views," she said, "but we have to remember that as long as we're her guests, we have to be polite."
    That didn't seem like Mom. She and Dad happily railed against anyone they disliked or disrespected: Standard Oil executives, J. Edgar Hoover, and especially snobs and racists. They'd always encouraged us to be outspoken about our opinions. Now we were supposed to bite our tongues. But she was right; Erma would boot us. Situations like there, I realized, were what turned people into hypocrites.
    "I hate Erma," I told Mom.
    "You have to show compassion for her," Mom said. Erma's parents had died when she was young, Mom explained, and she had been shipped off to one relative after another who had treated her like a servant. Scrubbing clothes on a washboard until her knuckles bled–that was the preeminent memory of Erma's childhood. The best thing Grandpa did for her when they got married was buy her an electric washing machine, but whatever joy it had once given her was long gone.
    "Erma can't let go of her misery," Mom said. "It's all she knows." She added that you should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. "Everyone has something good about them," she said. "You have to find the redeeming quality and love the person for that."
    "Oh yeah?" I said. "How about Hitler? What was his redeeming quality?"
    "Hitler loved dogs," Mom said without hesitation.]]> 2019-05-07 16:15:50 UTC https://padlet.com/19overton/gr6rmn1exlo0/wish/357704810