One of the many things I was taught by my parents when I was a child is that there is never an excuse to be rude or disrespectful to others. This is obviously far easier to say than to do but I really do try my best to follow that sage advice when possible and normally if I don’t like someone I pr etty much just ignore them beyond the required pleasantries when seeing them at events. I say hi, shake hands, and move on. As most people reading this already know, I am a political conservative and I very proudly worked as a volunteer for former Rep. Mike Garcia all the way up to last year’s election when he was defeated by our current Rep. George Whitesides. Those years working for Mike were very rewarding and the most politically educating times of my life, both the good things and also some of the bad ones.  One of the primary things I learned working for Mike was how personally difficult and trying it is to run for elected office and how it only gets worse if you happen to win! This is especially so at the state and federal level when holding that office requires you to be away from your home and family so much. And this is especially so if you have younger children, as you can never get that time away from them back.  I’ve said all this to point out what should be obvious, but unfortunately isn’t many times. We all need to treat others with courtesy even when we disagree with them. As a conservative I didn’t vote for either Congressman Whitesides or Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, but I will always treat them with respect, and when they are doing things that I consider to be good for our district, and especially when they do good things for veterans, I will loudly and proudly support them without reservation. I know Assemblywoman Schiavo and her wonderful staff better than Rep. Whitesides, but I so far I have had wonderful experiences with the congressman’s staff and the one time I was face to face with him at World War II vet Don Kuehl’s 100th birthday party at Crazy Otto’s, we got along just fine and so far he seems to be doing very good things for vets, just like Mike Garcia did.  Personally I don’t have to agree with someone 100% of the time to like them or support them on those things we do agree on, and actually I would start worrying about myself and them if we agreed 100% on everything!  Unfortunately, in our anonymous “cyber age,” rudeness and disrespect for anyone who doesn’t agree with us 100% of the time has replaced common decency and civility. Rick Barker  Valencia The post Rick Barker | Politeness appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal. ...read more read less