The Shiny Wrapper

Yes, I'm a Cat Lady

I noticed this morning that I am becoming my Grandmother. I pulled a tissue from the box wiped my nose, then folded it up and put it in my sweater pocket. I know, right! We like to think of ourselves as more enlightened than the generation before us. And in some ways maybe we are. We treat other cultures with a little more respect, we see woman as equals, and we think more about the environment. Who the hell am I kidding? From what I see, all we’ve done is pull the shiny wrapper of politeness towards others off. 

No disrespect to Granny, but my Grandmother at least to me never showed disrespect towards anyone. But today I see more outward displays of hatred, then I have since I was a child during school integration. But it’s not just about race or equality, it’s the outward display of selfishness. The fear that someone’s going have more than me. Listen I lived that life. For years I lived a life jealous of other’s successes. The bitterness, the anguish all has its roots in fear and self-hatred. Frankly, it’s no way to live.
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While we wallow in our jealousy and fear, the world is dying. Children are torn from their families. Woman work for less pay and respect. And the environment is quickly decaying into a wasteland. All because we think only of ourselves and our own petty fears. Listen, I don’t mind people disagreeing with my views. Hell, debate and compromise are a healthy thing. How about we put aside our paranoia and see the commonality we each share. Then who knows, maybe Granny can rest easy knowing we finally learned something.