Today’s Youth
I attended the Williamstown Fair last week to watch The County Lads perform, always a great show and my wife’s favourite local band. Sitting on the sidelines, I took that opportunity to ‘people watch’, a habit of mine. Watching people interact with each other is always entertaining and sometimes priceless.
Some things never change at music events; the girls dance and most of the boy’s watch. The girls let loose and the boy act like jocks pushing and teasing each other. This time, one thing I found very different. While there are always girls dancing with girls, I have never seen boys with boys, yet on this night I saw just that! It was delightful, with the biggest change being that no one cared. The jocks still talked to these boys, still bugged them but did not single them out. To them, it was the normal way of life … and today it is.
I thought back to over a half a century ago, when I attended dances and when this was not done ever, though I am positive the same feelings were there but expressing them was just not done, too afraid of the ramifications of doing so. I had gay friends (not to say these boys were gay because they could very well have been ‘letting loose’ like the girls do naturally.) But I have a son who is gay, so this is no longer a shock to this man.
Watching by the sidelines has taught me that people must be themselves and must be free to be those selves in order to be happy, not ruled over by societies norms, or what is ‘considered normal’. Today our youth have evolved. They are so much more inclusive and more caring about the feelings of others around them. They are acknowledging those others and accepting them for who they are, not what others think they should be. Can we become more like our youth? Can we challenge ourselves to be open to change? I did when my son came out: it was not easy … but then that is what a challenge is. Too many people use words that are no longer acceptable in today’s world. I challenge them to look inside, for it could be a son or a daughter who gets hurt … or gets accepted! How would that make you feel? I had the choice when my son came out: accept him or lose him. I chose to accept him as he is, to love him as he is. No prejudice. No judgement.
These boys at the fair were just having fun, being able to do what made them happy. How delightful! How so desperately needed this happiness is in today’s deeply troubled world. Live and let live, and try to just be happy, to be kind. That is what matters in this life. As someone once said “What others think of me does not concern me.” Thank you to all the young people who are showing us the way forward. All is not lost.
