It’s that time of year again when we all sit down and watch a blockhead and a kid with a blanket and a lisp try to save Christmas. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” will be on our televisions on one channel or another for the next month, and that got me thinking about everyone’s favorite round-headed kid and the insult that is most often heard in relation to him. Lucy and company never seem to let a chance go by to call good ol’ Charlie Brown “wishy-washy.” And with the election just past, I can’t help but think Lucy and the media have a lot in common. Nothing means death to a politician more than being called a “flip-flopper.”
Now, I understand when you elect an official to office, you want to make sure he does what he says he will. I just don’t understand why that seems to mean he has to have had the same opinions about issues for his entire career.
To the contrary, I would hope a politician might change his stance on issues depending on the needs of the people he is serving.
And as we see with Charlie Brown, the negative connotations attached to a person who simply changes his or her mind does not stop with politics. For some reason, we as a society condemn our fellows for changing their opinions. For students, that can be confusing. College means change. It’s a time to try on different identities and try to see the world through others’ points of view.
That can be hard when you are afraid if you change your mind you will be called “wishy-washy” and others will look down on you.
In science, the term “flip-flop” does not always have such a negative connotation. New evidence comes out, scientist reads it, scientist flip-flops on her former viewpoint and everyone is okay with that. Why can’t it work that way in everyday life?
If I held one viewpoint, but then I grew or changed or met someone new or simply spent a lot of time researching and changed my mind, why should I not be praised for my search for knowledge rather than booed as being inconsistent? I would like to feel proud of my growth, rather than ashamed I could change.
Give me a wishy-washy friend any day over a friend who refuses to ever change her mind or consider another point of view.
After all, what’s the fun of having a friend if you can’t argue him over to your point of view? (I’m kidding, of course; there are plenty more reasons to have friends: birthday gifts, for one.) But in all seriousness, being unwaveringly devoted to your point of view does not necessarily make you a better person. Trying to see the world from other people’s perspectives and learning to see different sides of an issue makes you a good person.
Being compassionate and considerate of others should be a good quality, not something that makes you “wishy-washy.”
Even in politics, I would rather know my elected official is constantly thinks about his or her policies, challenging and perfecting them, than simply picking a side and sticking loyally beside it throughout his or her entire life.
Though changing policy can often be a sign a new election is coming up, I like to believe in the possibility politicians are thinking about the issues from as many sides as possible and trying their best to make decisions that will benefit the most people.
So that’s what I want for Christmas. For people to think deeply and widely about topics they care about, and for society to support them if that happens to bring about a change in their opinions. Because that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.