(story to published in tomorrow's issue, March 30)
We have finally made it into the twenty-first century (or at least some claim we have), but, to my huge disappointment, somehow, things are not at all different. People are not better, robots do not inhabit the world, we are not flying on a regular basis to remote planets and the Earth has not been taken over by aliens yet. Moreover, people's mentality hasn't changed a bit. We are just as intolerant, biased and narrow-minded as we used to be in the last century/millennium. When I was little, I used to dream about me turning 24 in the year 2000 and I thought everything would be completely different, that I would be more mature and that people would also be different - in the good sense of the word. However, as we can see, reality is the same and we aren't ready yet to deal with the delicate aspects. "Different doesn't necessarily mean bad," someone once said and he was right. But people have always been afraid of anything that did not fit the pre-established conventions, of anyone who wasn't of their own kind. Romans persecuted Christians, medieval Christians burnt Jews, scientists and alleged witches, American settlers hunted down Indians, and so on. For certain reasons, humans hate what they cannot understand or relate to. On the other hand, they say, opposites attract. Ever since the beginning of history and civilisation, people have been falling for the wrong girl or guy (at least wrong from their parents' point of view). So, here we go again, getting to the old and juicy "conflict-between-generations" theme. For centuries, fathers have been punishing their daughters, disinheriting them or sending them away to convent, because they had dared to fall in love with a man who did not fit their plans for various reasons: fortune, fame, religion, race, etc. Kings have lost their thrones because of a love that was not "appropriate." The same thing happens today - parents make up a whole list of "don'ts" which often give their offspring the irresistible urge to do exactly the opposite of what's expected of them. Personally, I have always stood by the concept presented by Rabelais in the chapter on the Monastery of Theleme - "Fais ce que voudras" ("Do whatever you want"). For most people are tempted to go and do exactly all the things which are forbidden. And since there is no interdiction, temptation vanishes (in most cases anyway). If you recall, Adam and Eve only had a craving for the Eden apple when they found out it was out of reach, in the "not to" category. As a matter of fact, this is exactly what happened to a friend of mine - she fell for a guy she knew only after everybody, including her parents, told her that he wasn't right for her. Try to keep in mind that forbidden fruit always tastes sweeter than anything else.
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