Take down the signs

With lawn signs popping up throughout our neighborhoods for the two presidential candidates, I am respectfully asking my fellow residents to set a positive example for the country. Please remove the signs from your yard for both candidates.

Our country is fractured again by this national election. Lawn signs for either candidate only serve to widen the gap that separates us as Americans and neighbors. Do people really think lawn signs will change the minds of their neighbors? Of course not.

Everyone is keenly aware of the two options for president. We do not need lawn signs to educate or remind us. Lawn signs for either candidate can send signals of vanity, hatred, and judgment which only leads to further division.

I yearn for the good old days when our political views and presidential preferences did not ruin friendships and strain family relationships. I would love to go back to a time when Americans declined to divulge who they voted for. Our vote was deeply personal, not a boastful public statement.

My neighbors are free to vote for the candidate of their choice. They also have the constitutional right to free speech. I hope and pray we will come together as a community and a nation to vote discreetly and use our voices to discuss the critical issues of our time with tolerance and grace. The only sign we should be displaying to our neighbors is one of love and respect.

Paul Petricca

Arlington Heights