All Sorts of Divides

February 9, 2020 (182 words)

It’s hard for men and women to really talk to each other. It’s difficult for a 65 year-old to easily converse with a 25 year-old. Or for folks who wear blue jeans at work to chat amiably with those who don creased slacks or tailored skirts during the day.

There are all sorts of divides in this world. Developing empathy for others is how we span them.

Figuring this out was a big part of my upbringing, an important part of what my parents taught each of their six children to do. They accomplished this instruction mainly by dint of their example, without resorting to elaborate discourse.

But all that seems to have gone by the wayside. Now that everyone is in full Walt Whitman mode – I celebrate myself, I sing the song of myself – relating to others in any meaningful way has slipped far down the list of priorities.

Since each of us have embraced the pursuit of our own unique definition of happiness, is it any wonder we are encountering so much social unrest, marked by such incivility?

Robert J. Cavanaugh, Jr.
February 9, 2020