My dad was a feed grinder. I mean, he was a feed grinder back in the day when he would take his feed grinding truck and grind up corn, beans, alfalfa and more for the other farmers in our area. Its what he did for a living.

And I remember 50 years ago (yes...yes, I'm that old) Richard Nixon was running against Hubert Humphrey for President of the United States. Bumper stickers were a big deal back then, and my dad had the opportunity to put his choice on the bumper of that feed grinder.

He didn't.

His reasoning was pretty simple: Why should I torque off (by the way, he didn't use the word 'torque') a neighbor and a friend and miss out on that $3.50 I get for grinding a load of corn?

You see, for him it was a matter of economics. Oh, he'd talk politics with his friends at the local cafe or after church. But he kept it out of his workplace.

And apparently now more than ever that's good advice.

According to a recent article in Scientific American, bringing politics to your workplace can not only cause those age old debates, it can impact employee morale, and not in a good way.

In other words, co-workers who disagree politically will hurt the business bottom line. And I'm thinkin' thats not something the boss will appreciate.

The article goes on to say that, these days, debating (arguing?) politics is different. While someone like my dad and his ol' pals could argue politics and when they were done they were done and friends, not now.

People who disagree politically are increasingly unwilling to live near each other, be friends or get married to members of what they call 'the other group'.

So while you're at work, go ahead and debate the Vikings or Packers, but leave politics out of the equation.

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