I remember my first encounter going out to the "non-mainstream" bars with my older sister when I had just turned 18. Living in the St.Albert suburbs all my life I was incredibly surprised and excited to experience a new culture and scene that I never knew existed. My my sister who went to the university and lived on Whyte ave always encouraged me to explore outside the St.Albert bubble and wantedto show me what the city and in particular the night life in the city of Edmonton looked like through her eyes. She took me to The Black Dog, and Blues on Whye, and New City Suburbs. To a fresh 18 yr old from St.Albert this was a huge deal! I saw cross dressers and gothic culture at New city, and homeless people at Blues on Whyte. I thought the city was fabulous and loved going to new places where I didnt know anyone and got to experience new types of culture.
When reading Darrin's book I thought about my first experiences seeing certain minority groups in the city and how I was shocked at first, and then as I began to experience new things I became greatful for those people who have the courage to express themselves and be the first ones to step out and do something different. One thought that deeply resonates with me is why our society is so afraid to break the boundaries of social norms we have? When we push the envelope on gender or even contemporary style why do some people become deeply offended?
You raise an excellent question as to why people resist change so vehemently. I think the main root of this opposition is laziness. Had you not gone out and encountered the new cultures and places within the the city, you would have missed out on many great experiences. Nevertheless, you would have probably been content with your life either way. Herein the problem is complacency with how life 'is' and people's general reluctance to get off their butts and expand their views. This is meant in both a figurative and literal sense (No one supports change while sitting on their couch chowing down on cheetos, becoming a statistic in the obesity pandemic—whew, wild tangent there).
ReplyDeleteAndrea, I'm really taken with this sense of being grateful: that's it exactly! What I love about difference of all kinds is that it makes my world bigger.
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