Crossroads of life

You don't have to live in the big city to see that the world is a terribly small place. We people mix with each other and are constantly taking and learning from other cultures and societies.
It may seem that in the world today we become more and more isolated as our fear of the unknown grows.

We are human beings and that of which we have little or no knowledge scares us ...a lot. We lash out like wounded animals, but we aren't merely animals. We are human. Being human we are very resilient and very flexible. We take what works for us and leave the rest.

I have been working at the mall lately filling in while the owners are away. I look across the counters and see that even though at an international level we seem to be isolated we are very much connected at a local level.

Upon entering the mall you see South Asians working side-by-side with North Africans. Actually its a veritable rainbow. You see everybody. I met a Ukrainian the other day. He was walking around the mall with his Vietnamese girlfriend.

Interracial couples are everywhere. It's no big deal. Goths and preps share the same table. Rich and not so rich shop at the same retailers. People from all walks of life (what does that really mean) love gyros.

Some people you will see in the mall every weekend. For others a trip to the mall is an event that they plan. I talked to a family who had driven 'in from the country' to shop for a prom dress.

All that said ,this is just an observation of what I'll call the microcosm of the mall. An ecosystem, of sorts. Self-contained.

It's not much, but looking out into the mall across the counter I feel a sense of hope that not all is lost. We still have a chance. No matter what happens people will figure out a way to stay people. We all have our ups and downs, but in the end no matter what our color or nationality we are people. We deal. We learn. We adapt. The unknown won't stay that way forever, especially with all the mixing we can't keep ourselves from doing.

We'll be alright. The world may not become a better place, but we human beings will keep the monsters at bay.