HOOSER: Hating on each other is not helpful

It’s time to take a deep breath, I think.

Perhaps a second and a third are also in order.

I would suggest taking a “chill pill,” but unfortunately too many are probably already headed down this path of self-medication. And the situation is not the least bit funny.

The stress is palpable. We have friends hating on friends. We have people standing outside of buildings, holding signs spewing the venom of hate, fear and divisiveness. The keyboard warriors are going 24/7 slinging arrows and throwing mud.

Please stop.

It’s stressful, I know. Believe me, I know. Like everyone else, I feel it too.

Our hospitals are at or nearing capacity. We see headlines telling us the threat of running out of oxygen in our emergency rooms is a real one. Our infection and our death rates from COVID are higher than they’ve ever been, and the victims are increasingly the young.

But turning on each other is not the answer, and only makes things worse. Much worse.

We are all in this together. Remember, that is who we are. In our community, we have civil conversations, even when we disagree. We take care of each other, and we look out for and do our best to support our neighbors and friends.

A high standard? An unrealistic pollyannaish dream? Perhaps, but it’s one that, in my opinion, we should strive for.

We are not a community of “every man for himself.” That’s not who we are. This is not a place where “survival of the fittest and the law of the jungle” prevails.

And hating on each other has no place here. No place at all. We can be disappointed, sad, frustrated, and perhaps even angry — but hateful words and actions have no place here.

So let’s try a reboot.

Let’s all take a deep breath or three and start our conversations over again, or maybe even not have some conversations that we know full well will trigger tension, stress and anger.

While we cannot and should not hide from tough decisions and hard conversations, I’m thinking we have had enough of them for today. By now, the vetting and venting of the pro-vaccination and anti-vaccination topics have pretty well been covered. Don’t ya think?

For myself and my family, we have been fully vaccinated and we are staying home for now — a voluntary lockdown of sorts with a very limited bubble of outside contacts.

Many in our community, of course, do not have this option and cannot stay home due to work or other unavoidable commitments. To those that must go out, wearing a mask and social distancing is an essential way to protect yourself and others.

Let’s focus today, for a few moments at least, on the beauty of the place and the people around us. Let’s remember how lucky we are to live here. Let’s remember to be nice to each other. And, then, let’s shift to a proactive mindset focused on how we are going to beat this thing together.

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Gary Hooser is the former vice-chair of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, and served eight years in the state Senate, where he was majority leader. He also served for eight years on the Kaua‘i County Council, and was the former director of the state Office of Environmental Quality Control. He serves presently in a volunteer capacity as board president of the Hawai‘i Alliance for Progressive Action and is executive director of the Pono Hawai‘i Initiative.