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Last weekend I was reading Jeffrey Bergeron’s hilarious expose on celebrity pig stripping. You know, just a typical Biff America column.

It took a twist at the end where, decades after the incident, Bergeron expressed regret at not having compassion at the time for the pig he de-pantsed of the underwear it didn’t really want to wear in the first place. Empathy, he wrote, maybe isn’t innate but only acquired over time.

I may not have an animal/clothing indiscretion to grieve over (I really can only hope to be half as cool as Bergeron down the road), but the column did drive home something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately: having more empathy for people of a different mindset.



It’s easy to get upset when interacting with someone who doesn’t share the same values, goals or work ethic. It’s easy to write people off who aren’t of the same opinions. It’s a lot harder to accept them for who they are and try to at least understand where they are coming from.

This really hit home for me a couple weeks ago while visiting my family in Missouri. It was the first time in three years that my entire immediate family — including my sister who lives in California and travels the world, but rarely goes home — was together in one place. As much as I love my sister (she knows me better than anyone else ever will) we are very different people. When I wanted to relax, she wanted to go shopping. I want to spend time cooking, she wants to eat whatever is available the minute she’s hungry, even if it’s something that’s sat on top of the stove for 32 hours. (My partner actually calls her “TDZ” — temperature danger zone).



But there are also many things that my partner gets irritated at me for. Um, no, I didn’t notice there was dust on the wall trim. When we moved into our house in Fairplay, I threw all of my socks in a lidless box in the closet because we were only going to be there for one winter. When we decided to stay for another year, it was three weeks after he brought home a dresser when he asked me when I was going to get rid of the box. I can honestly say I hadn’t even thought about the fact that socks go in dressers. The box still sits there, mocking him.

I realize these are all such mundane everyday conflicts. But if I can get that upset at someone I love over cooking spaghetti, it’s easy to see how bigger battles begin. I’m currently reading “I Am Malala,” and it’s shocking and disheartening to read about the lack of tolerance from a first-hand perspective that has brought war and death to the entire world. I just read “Shanghai Girls,” and was heartbroken over the racism felt by Chinese immigrants to America that was really not that long ago.

I can’t change these things from the past, and I can’t change the war raging into our future. But I can change the way I act towards people around me, like terrible drivers, unaware tourists and Trump supporters. We can all at least try to every day be the change that we’d like to see in the world.

BIG SAM AND CIDER CIRCUS

New Orlean’s band Big Sam’s Funky Nation will be bringing their horn heavy urban funk to the Copper Mountain stage on Saturday, Aug. 27, as part of the Cider Circus festival. Anyone can attend the free show in Center Village. Tickets must be purchased for the cider tastings, with around 25 different breweries bringing a variety of cider and beer to try. A mobile infuser will be sending cider through fresh ingredients for additional variety. Cider Circus will also features aerial performances by Boulder-based Fractal Tribe.

HOGFEST

This new festival by Rocky Mountain Events celebrates bourbon and bacon with Denver-based Tender Belly. The pork purveyor has built almost a cult-like following in its six years in business, and each of the dishes prepared by chefs on Saturday, Aug. 27 will feature Tender Belly products.

PINK FLOYD COVER IN DILLON

This wildly popular show is back at Dillon Amphitheatre on Saturday, Aug. 27. The Machine, a Pink Floyd cover band, will play for free at the picturesque venue in downtown Dillon, as part of the town’s free concert series.


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