A Dream of Tolerance
posted at 5:09 pm
on May. 6, 2007
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I had an interesting conversation in a dream this afternoon.
In the dream, my family and I were waiting in a resort in a harbour town, waiting for a cruise ship to arrive or leave.
Actually, we were waiting for an older relative who was very sick to die, which is why my extended family was there. But there was a HUGE number of koreans waiting to get on the cruise ship.
Anyway, that’s not the point. The point is that I was sitting out by the pool, and across the courtyard, there were two amazingly gorgeous lesbians, one blonde and one red head, making out in a pool lounger.
The woman in the chair next to me struck up a conversation, and asked me if seeing two women kissing bothered me.
“Uh, no, not really,” I said. “I saw them at the breakfast and they were making out there as well. I think they’re on a honeymoon or something.”
“Ah,” said the woman. She was smoking a cigarette and reading a ladies’ magazine. “Homosexuality doesn’t seem to bother any of you kids these days, does it? Now, why is that?”
I remember even in my dream being bemused that she still considered me a kid. But i tried to give her the best answer I could.
I said I thought that there had been a big difference the exposure of kids to messages of tolerance, and to understanding that homosexuality actually existed, pre- and post- the 1970’s/1980s. I said that in general, kids have been exposed to a broader diversity of cultures and lifestyles.
I told her about the messages I’d been exposed to as a kid that I could still remember: mostly, a lot of shows that dealt with words and spelling, a few about government, and a strangely effective “Participaction” campaign by the federal government that still influenced how I exercised (or at least, how much guilt I feel when I’m not).
I said the even younger generation have a double dose of tolerance messages, but not as much about civic involvement, which might be why they’re less engaged in changing the world—I’m personally shocked at how few and small the protests on college campuses have been about the war. I think in my dream I thought about blaming The Simpsons, but I didn’t.
And I also said that, there was a double standard as far as male and female homosexuality was concerned, and I didn’t really have an understanding of why that was, but it was fairly undeniable.
Then the P.A. system announced that the cruise ship was going to be delayed in the fog that a whirlpool was currently destroying the dock, and that all resort visitors from Los Angeles should meet in the lobby, so I got up to head to the lobby.
Then I woke up. I think it was an interesting conversation.
