-----
as i was in JFK airport in NY, i observed all the other passengers,
for i finally hoped to get a glimpse of what NY is like.
some people had the typical thick NY accent. we had to take a bus
from the terminal to get to our plane, for the airport was
backed up. on the bus, i noticed the stereotypical view
of many different races and ethnicities. it was fun. everyone
was in a hurry and crammed into the bus with their luggage.
most of the people on the bus were old. in particular,
i noticed one white guy near me leave his seat. i looked
up and realized that it was because an older african american
woman w/ a cane staggered onto the bus and would need a
convenient place to sit. she thanked him, and i didn't
think too much of it... it was a nice act to do, but
nearly anyone would have done the same. shortly thereafter,
i noticed another white guy on the bus who was sitting
close to the front leave his seat. yep, once again,
another elder african american woman was looking for
a seat. i thought to myself how great that is, then i immediately
recalled that rosa parks recently passed away during hte past
week. wow. wasn't it just 50 yrs or so ago that she was forced
to sit in the back, and now white guys are without hesitation
giving up their seats--forcing themselves to stand--just to help
out these women. how great is that. this sheer thought
invoked in me a strong feeling of warmth, and i couldn't help
but smile wildly. i nearly laughed with excitement. it's
amazing how much and how fast things can change. 50 yrs is
such a short amount of time. i'm 21. 50 is only like 2.5
times this number of years. humanity is great.
on topic with this nice view of humanity, in civ class, i've
been reading about many different civilizations and how
they've developed. they all fought, shared some common beliefs,
argued over politics, and merged and rejected other cultures.
most of this seems trivial to me, for i've always viewed this
stuff as just being part of the journey of the world...
societies will always prevail, flourish, then diminish.
it doesn't matter who is top dog or who is the under dog, as
it'll always change, eventually. for this reason,
we all seem almost insignificant in the sense of OUR POSITION.
therefore, it makes WHAT WE VALUE, our interactions, and we
PROMOTE< BELIEVE< AND STAND FOR matter. that is what matters.
when i say interactions, i mean our bonds as individuals.
globally though, it's all insignificant, still. it's just labels.
united states vs iraq or iran? pakistan vs india? it's trivial.
it's like a soap opera. it's just notation. what matters is the
SEMANTICS! it's the MEANING that matters.
also, when i was flying, i noticed the ocean's waves.
i couldn't grasp how the breaking ocean waves seemed
indistinguishable--all i could see was a white outline that
didn't seem to move. i coudln't see the waves breaking, but
there was definitely a distinct, curved pattern of water
along the shore where the waves woudl break. how could i see
this, but i coudln't see the individual waves? it
looked like they weren't moving at all... it's because
what i believed to be a 'wave' was really 100 or so feet
of waves. but, as a whole, these waves continued to break,
or 'change,' at a constant rate. the derivative was the same!
it wasn't even noticeable. therefore, i wonder how much of
our society is the same as what it was back 200 years ago,
or even 2,000 yrs ago. the aforementioned charitable acts
on the bus seemed newly precedented in the sense that african
american rights 50 yrs ago were different. however, i'm sure
there were many gracious, kind acts that fellow humans did
for each other back in those days. only the individual
groups and interactions amongst these groups have changed.
(the individual small waves have changed.) however, the
large shoreline is probably indistinguishable. we are
likely all generally hte same humans we were 2,000 yrs ago.
the trivial notations (races, ethnic labels) have changed,
and people interact differently between these, but it's all
the same. i only wonder how my generation or the entire 20th
century will be classified in history books later on. my civ book
sums up and generalizes entire nations' beliefs and values
within 1 sentence for a given 50 yrs. how can one make a
sentence that well-defines our entire shoreline of humans
for the 20th century? the shoreline has so many bends in
it... so many little waves.
------
Comments (1)