A would-be congressman has a really good reason for not living in his district.

    
Stories Worth Sharing.
Explore more
HeroesFamilyMost SharedVideosMore

For People Who Give a Damn.
Explore more
PlanetInnovationDesignCultureCities
About GOOD IncAdvertiseEditorial StaffContact UsSend a TipJobs
Follow Upworthy :

| |

PS. You are doing great. Keep it up :<)

At the expense of some votes, he sends a strong message about what matters.

Jon Ossoff wants to represent Georgia's 6th District in Congress, but there's one problem: He doesn't technically live there.

During an interview with CNN's Alisyn Camerota, Ossoff admitted he isn't eligible to vote for himself because he lives just outside of district boundaries. While it's legal to run for office in a district other than the one you live in, it certainly can be frowned upon.

Jon Ossoff. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

Ossoff grew up in the district but moved just south of there so he and his girlfriend, Alisha Kramer, could be closer to Atlanta's Emory University, where she's going to medical school.

Opponents jumped on Ossoff's admission that he doesn't actually have residency in the 6th District, with the National Republican Congressional Committee going so far as to call him a carpetbagger.

The truth is much simpler: Many people relocate for the sake of their partner's career.

Kramer (left) and Ossoff. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

As a society, we've come to expect women to follow men and not vice versa.

Advice columnists have taken stabs at parsing these expectations, finance websites have published articles about how to succeed as a "trailing spouse," and support groups and websites have even begun popping up to help those who follow their loved ones cope with what can certainly be a stressful time. But still, it's often assumed this is a burden that should placed on women. Ossoff's decision to support Kramer shows there's a flip side to that narrative.

None of this is to suggest it's somehow better he lives outside of the district he hopes to represent, but simply that life and relationships are complicated in their own ways.

Ossoff. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

For what it's worth, Ossoff and Kramer plan to move back to the district as soon as she finishes her medical training.

The ability to find compromise and willingness to sacrifice is key in any healthy relationship. Ossoff probably could have rushed to relocate after President Trump selected Tom Price as his Health and Human Services secretary, creating the need for a special election.

But that would have sent a message in itself that his support for Kramer was contingent upon him not having anything better to do. By sticking to the couple's original plan, even at the prospect of losing voters, he sends another message about who he is as a person — and that's just as important.

Ossoff and Kramer meet with supporters. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

popular

Let's chat about schools enforcing dress codes but making masks a 'personal choice'

Photo by Viktor Talashuk on Unsplash, Annie Reneau/Twitter

This week, viral photos from the first day of school in various Georgia counties showed students crowded together with few masks in sight. Schools in the same area had to shut down entire classrooms due to positive tests after the first day back, quarantining students and teachers for two weeks.

In these counties, students are "encouraged" to wear a mask at school, but they are not required. Mask-wearing is referred to as a "personal choice."

This week, a private Christian college in a town near where I live announced that is planning to resume in-person classes this fall. The school has decided that students will not be required to wear masks, despite the fact that the town itself has a mask mandate for all public spaces. "No riots. No masks. In person. This fall," the college wrote in a Facebook post advertising the school last month.

The supposed justification for not requiring students to wear masks is that it's a "personal choice," and that students have the freedom to choose whether to wear one or not.

That's a neat story. Except it is totally hypocritical coming from schools and school districts that have no problem placing limits on personal choice and freedom by mandating stringent dress codes for students.

Keep Reading Show less

coronavirus

Dole

Dole Sunshine

Sunshine For All

How your food is made matters. Here’s why.

Photo from Dole

True

As you sit down to eat your breakfast in the morning or grab an afternoon snack, take a minute to consider your food, how it was made, and how it got to your plate.

The fruit on your plate were grown and picked on farms, then processed, packaged and sent to the grocery store where you bought them.

Sounds simple, right?

The truth is, that process is anything but simple and at every step in the journey to your plate, harm can be caused to the people who grow it, the communities that need it, and the planet we all call home.

For example, thousands of kids live in food deserts and areas where access to affordable and nutritious food is limited. Around the world, one in three children suffer from some form of malnutrition, and yet, up to 40% of food in the United States is never eaten.

Keep Reading Show less

food