Today our challenge was to practice our listening skills with each other, learn how to talk about and discuss controversial topics, and then go out into the streets with signs asking a controversial question and listen to what peoples’ thoughts were on that topic.
We started our day with taking the bus up to Mt. Crested Butte. Then, Dev challenged us individually with a topic and he took on the persona of an aggressive individual approaching you on a topic such as “Why aren’t you in school? Do you support abortions?” Example of a conversation:
“So… I see you want to know what I think about abortion!!!”
“Yes, I would like to hear your thoughts.”
“Are you a baby killer!?!?!?!?!”
… “Are you?”
After that, we practiced on each other about topics that we generally cared about, such as, how effective is airport security after 9/11? Or, after a fatal grizzly bear attack that happened a couple months ago in Yellowstone National Park, was it right to kill the bear? Why or why not?
Later on, we went out into the main part of the town of Crested Butte with two signs. One said, “Donald Trump – yay or nay?” The other said, “Who do you think should be president, and why?”
For each sign we got very similar answers. Most people said they would be voting for Bernie Sanders, and everyone said (in their own, different ways) how much they hated Donald Trump. Overall, I would say this challenge really makes you think deeply about topics you might normally otherwise not think about, and it also took perseverance to sit outside in the rain for hours where during some periods of time no one would talk to you.