I got caught up in the presidential election this year. Everything I read, watched on television or listened to on the radio was tainted by the smell of the election. I felt disgust for my guy, the other guy and all the guys that came before.

On election night, all of us watching from home were reduced to red or blue. Not purple or pink. No gradations, no patches of different colors. Just one or the other, our red or blue state became a perfect symbol of the duality of our beliefs.

On that night, you were with me or against me, to paraphrase our President.

We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.

Epictetus, a Greek Stoic philosopher (55