There’s a new movie out–it’s called, “Aloha,” and I can’t wait to see it. After all, I love a good Hawaii movie, even more so now that I live here. Plus, it stars Bradley Cooper, and he’s kind of easy on the eyes!

So, you can imagine my horror when I heard that “many” people who live in Hawaii were offended the director chose the name, “Aloha” for the title of the movie. Then, a cultural advocacy group was offended there weren’t enough Asian Americans in the movie. Then…you get the drift.

It didn’t make sense–until it did.

I remembered back to my old T.V. news days when we would cover this or that event. At any given time, I would find protesters out and about no matter what the subject matter. Worse, I started to recognize these protesters as the same people all the time.

It could be animal rights or Native Hawaiian rights–no matter what the topic, I always saw the same people.

And, wouldn’t you know it? These were the same people who had a problem with the movie!

One of the local radio personalities finally called it–he said there are people who are perpetual protesters. These are folks who are “against” just about everything.

Now, as a reporter, they were great because we could always count on them for a soundbite, but, now? Not so much.

What does this have to do with conflict resolution? Well, we may all have a perpetual protester in us, really.

Do you always have something negative to say? Are you always in the mood for a conflict? If so, you may have a bit of perpetual protester in you.

So, next time your perpetual protester takes a stand, ask yourself: Is this an issue I really care about or am I just ready for a fight?

Britt