You Can't Boycott It All (or at least, I can't)

The thing these days is boycotts of companies who you think are doing the wrong thing.

Voting with your dollars is totally a thing, and it can be a good thing, though it has certain drawbacks (basically the fact that people with more dollars have more votes). Still, using your wallet to pressure a company to do the right thing is one of the small powers a consumer has.

More than that, I understand the feeling that one doesn't want to associate with something 'dirty'. So, if, for instance, you feel that Papa John's is mistreating their employees by their stance on the ACA, maybe you don't eat at Papa John's because you feel like you can't contribute to that.

So then, let's say you're in favor of equal rights for lgbtq folk. I am!

So, you boycott Hobby Lobby and Chik-Fil-A. Easy! I don't like CFA's food anyway, and don't even know where the nearest one to me is. And I like craft stuff, but on the rare occasion I can afford any, I'm probably grabbing it from the dollar store or the walmart- nearer and cheaper.

Then, something happens. Nintendo comes along with an announcement that they're not going to make certain aspects of a new game equally available to gay people.

And, um, I love Nintendo.

So now I have a conundrum. How the hell do I boycott Nintendo when the new Pokemon game is coming out in just a few months?

And then someone I love posts on Facebook about how Nintendo should not change that. That they are right to exclude gay interactions.

And I realize something.

You can't boycott people. You can't make people accept you. You have to just hope they come around.

You end up having to choose- do I walk away from half the people I love, and lose my family, or do I accept them as they are -- even if they won't do that for me?

I don't actually have any choice. I accept my loved ones....however they feel about me.