An Emergency Meeting of the Human Race

Photo from: http://emertainmentmonthly.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/sddefault.jpg. 

Growing up, one of my favorite shows was Boy Meets World. I hoped for the Corey and Topanga romance, to have a friend like Shawn Hunter, and to be in a classroom with a teacher like Feeny. Even as an adult, this show remains a big favorite, and I have certainly gotten a lot of use out of the DVD series my sister got me last year for Christmas. This time of year, there's one episode that continually comes to mind.

"Turkey Day" was aired on November 22, 1996. In this episode, Mr. Feeny attempts to teach his class about the conflict in Rwanda between the Hutu and Tutsi, but Corey and Shawn find themselves absorbed in a conflict much closer to home. After winning the prize for most food collected for the Thanksgiving food drive, Corey and shawn receive one turkey and one box of stuffing. In an attempt to share their prize, they suggest that their families spend Thanksgiving together, despite their economic differences.

Neither set of parents is happy, but they reluctantly agree and meet at Shawn's trailer for dinner. However, the evening is wrought with tension, both between the families and from other members of the trailer park community. Eventually the kids break off from the adults to escort Corey's younger sister, Morgan, to have a piece of pie with a classmate, Herman, in the same trailer park. Upon arrival, they are invited to join the "kids table" at the home of the classmate. They go around the table, each saying what they are thankful for. Corey and Shawn say that they are glad to be friends, despite their different upbringings.

At this point, the adults have stumbled upon their children and the conversation. Shawn's father turns to one of the residence of the trailer park and says, "Hey Luther, why don't you join us? We're having an emergency meeting of the human race."

I'd like to call one of those right now, and invite everyone to join. Let's have a meeting where we all sit down and talk about our thoughts without calling each other names. After all, aren't most of us old enough to realize that name calling does nothing but pour gasoline on the fire? Perhaps we could disagree with our president without comparing him to Hitler. For an hour, maybe we could be blind, not just to color, but to age, political party and sexual orientation. Maybe we could agree that despite differences in religious beliefs, everyone is entitled to believe and worship in a way that feels right to them. Maybe we could become deaf to differences in dialect, and take words of hate out of our vocabulary. Does anyone care to attend?