I’m an adult child of two long-time Villagers, and I check Villages-News.com from time to time to keep up with what’s going on. I can understand why Nancy Meyers is bothered by the protesters she’s seeing. It’s uncomfortable to have the reality that things aren’t right, upfront and in our faces. She does make a fair point that there are already plenty of auto accidents in The Villages. That said, since she mentioned the law, I wonder whether she’s also sick to death of the chronic Bad Parking, since there are certainly laws governing that. Is she equally frustrated with the Developer breaking their promises? Or the Developer’s unlawful Medicare billing, both to their immense benefit and your community’s detriment?
As for her comment about “spewing hatred,” I want to be fair: I haven’t seen these protesters in person, nor have I seen their signs. Still, I’ll take a kindness-first approach and suggest that most people protesting in this country are doing so because they’re connecting the dots. They’re looking at what may lie ahead for all of us, for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren, if we allow those in power to have unchecked and violent control over others.
We aren’t particularly accustomed to seeing people stand up for others. But people have always done this, and we owe much of the progress we enjoy to them. Historically, we’ve gotten almost nothing simply because those in power decided it was the right thing to do. Women’s suffrage, the 40-hour workweek, child labor laws, civil rights, food safety, and even small things like ramp accommodations (disability rights). None of these were handed down out of goodwill. We have them because people stood up…