Dear New York, You Seem More Divided Now Than Ever

How can you say we're united? There are thousands petitioning to literally divide the state into three parts. I feel like we aren't in this together but we should be.

As someone who's not from here I can tell you that state of New York has a perception of being one of the most diverse, accepting and compassionate places in the country. Are living in the same state because have not seen a lot of examples of that lately.

Do you think that's true? Before you answer I suggest you go and check your Facebook feed.

New York has gone through some big changes over the last few years and we've got more on the way so strap in. We're banning plastic bags and utensils, banning vape flavors, letting serious offenders out of lock up with no bond, we're trying to legalize marijuana and we even might just change the state flag.

Do these changes affect me? Of course they do but I refuse to let them dictate how I treat innocent people. I don't know what age as adults we forget the golden rule in regards to treating other people with respect but unfortunately it seems to be a phase almost all of us go through nowadays.

I'm not going to sit on a soap box and act like I don't judge or criticize my fellow citizens but a difference of opinions doesn't can be left at that. They don't need to morph into to toxic debates or actions.

Sorry for the rant but some of y'all need to respect your neighbor's opinion no matter how much you disagree and it shows.

If I had to describe my outside perspective of New York before moving here it woukld have words like pride, vibrancy, energy, triumph, creativeness and compassion. I haven't see a lot of that lately.

I'll leave this on a positive note. One of the words I left out was resilience. We're full of that. There's still plenty of time to get better.

We're all in this together.

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