My father and I talk about everything from movies and literature, to political disputes and new legislation, to ethics and personal growth, to the ever-expanding universe. He reads every day, all day, so our conversation topics are truly limitless. We base a lot of our discussions off of articles he reads, each of us giving input to the topic at hand. We are almost never on completely different sides of the spectrum, but we contribute a unique perspective of our own. 

One of the most recent political conversations we’ve had spun off of Kristi Noem’s attempt at a bill to ban transgender women and girls from playing on female sports teams. Of course we talked about how discriminatory and unconstitutional the bill was (a pretty straightforward conclusion). Then we began to talk about LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance as a whole.

My father is an attorney and highly values the anti-discriminatory theme of the constitution, so he has taught me a lot about the legal side of social issues. However, due to his age, he sometimes doesn’t fully understand the nuances of society today. so I’ve been able to teach him a lot about the deeper social side of social issues. 

Another frequent conversation is one about police brutality in the U.S. After the murder of George Floyd, and before it, we’ve conversed on the importance of a non-biased legal system in all fronts. We discuss how to fix this major issue on small and large scales. This is an issue that he understands more than I, and I’ve learned a lot about our justice system from our discussions about it.

What I’ve come to understand is that a good conversation duo is one that is open to learning from one another. Each participant may already agree on an issue, but it is why they agree that needs to be discussed. In order to build a better society we need to value the explanation of a conclusion in order to have a more seamless and solid understanding of why things are the way they are. Meaningful conversations do just that.

I thank my mother for finding someone that is such a great conversation partner, because I was born with him by my side. My father and I are a dream conversation team, and I’ve learned so much about the world and my own views just from talking with him.