Remember Kids: ASSUME = Makes an ASS out of U and ME (but mostly U)

I love being an American. I love having the freedom to express my own opinions about religion, politics, etc. without any fear. 

Lately, Nevada has become a lot more "blue" in its voting patterns and for the first time in years, the state elected the Democratic presidential candidate. I completely understand why some people chose to vote for this candidate and have no problems with their opinions. I realize that I am in the minority when it comes to what political party I belong to and who I supported in this past election.

HOWEVER ... Just because the majority of the country voted for Obama in this past election, doesn't mean that all of us were full of joy on inauguration day. Yes, it was day that went down in the history books and blah blah blah. But I wasn't too excited about it, and appreciated that most people who didn't rub this in my face. For the most part, everyone I come in contact with respects my beliefs, even if they don't necessarily agree with them. 

But there are a select few out there who ASSUME that everyone thinks the same way as them. On inauguration day, I had someone call me regarding a business-related matter and the first thing he said was "Happy Obama Day! Isn't today great?" Well, no, actually it isn't for some people, including me, who didn't vote for him. Well, this guy could not BELIEVE that I didn't vote for Obama. He then proceeded to ask me how I could work in the entertainment industry if I was a Republican, and how I could possibly have any friends. I don't know this person well enough to know if he was kidding, but it doesn't matter because he was RUDE! You shouldn't go around assuming everyone thinks the same exact way as you, and then call them out when they disagree with you. In addition, this was a business-related call. Not a friendly chat. And as far as I'm concerned, the two things you never talk about at work are religion and politics. There's just too much drama when you go there. Trust me, I know this from experience. Not pretty! 

I vividly remember a junior high math teacher who was explaining the basics of geometry, and one day in class he wrote this equation: ASSUME = ASS out of U and ME. I don't remember a lot of things I learned in junior high, high school, college and even last week, but I do remember this. Yes, of course everyone wants people to agree with them and everyone thinks that THEIR opinion is the right one. But guess what, we're never going to agree on everything and as cliche as this sounds, we're just going to need to "agree to disagree." But NEVER EVER assume that the person sitting next to you agrees with you. It's just plain rude and creates extremely awkward situations. Plus, you end up looking like ... well, an ass.