I sit here tonight plagued by my own thoughts. I am not sure I believe in reincarnation, but if there is such a thing I believe I have a very old soul. And to be honest the way the world is changing I’m not sure that given the choice I’d like to come back next time. All my life I’ve felt I was different. Not necessarily in a bad way, but just not normal, or like anyone else my age. It is a Friday night and I sit here with my thoughts while many people of my age are out among friends. Let’s see if I can help you understand my mind set. I find it rather interesting how my mind finds a way of connecting even the most mundane things. Earlier this week I witnessed a video that made the news of two teenage girls fighting in a school bathroom while another girl recorded the incident, then posted it on the internet. I began thinking how sad it is that after so many have fought and struggled for women’s liberation this is what we’ve come to. Just this evening I watched a film on the story of Beatrix Potter, the author of the beloved and best-selling children’s book, “The Tale of Peter Rabbit”. Even now as I write this I have to laugh knowing these two stories can hardly relate to one another, yet both have influenced my thoughts on the very same topic. I’ll try to explain. I can’t help but feel the more we gain as women the more we lose as well. This movie was set in a time when women had few rights. We were to marry to ensure our survival. Yet Beatrix Potter refused to condemn herself to this life. She refused to conform to society and became very successful as a writer thus not needing to take a husband (though she did eventually for love not necessity). The more rights and equalities we are granted, it seems the less we act as ladies and thus the less we are respected. Why have we come this far only to lose chivalry? No longer do many men act gentlemanly or women ladylike. I find this somewhat disturbing and dishonoring. What would be so wrong with a world that actually treated each sex with respect? I’m not suggesting we go back to the way things once were, but maybe if we were taught that we actually are all equal and deserve one another’s respect we wouldn’t have as many problems as we do in this world. (ie sexual harassment, discrimination, greedy corporation shareholders, dishonest politicians, etc.) Problems that we ourselves have created and allow to continue. Maybe it’s just as simple as bringing back manners into our teachings. Starting with please and thank you, holding doors open for one another, and not being in such a rush to get from one place to the next that we have complete disregard for any other living life. We’ve all become so consumed with what’s going in our own tiny bubble of the universe we’ve lost sight of the big picture. We are all here together but have somehow along the way become disconnected. We no longer have any need to just sit and enjoy one another’s company because of the invention of cell phones and e-mail. I fear children of the future won’t even have to ever leave their homes losing all abilities to communicate and have any face-to-face human contact what-so-ever. Speaking proper English and presenting a grammatically correct resume is already becoming a problem because the use of shorthand writing in every day life. I fear it’s almost gotten so bad that the only way to get things right would be to wipe the slate clean and start all over.