Tolerance
I grew up in a pretty small town. There were 20,000 people and most of them were conservative, white, blue collar workers. In this town, you either were a nerd, a jock, or a stoner. (I got to be in the “nerd” category, and still don’t mind that!) There wasn’t much to do in this town (two bowling alleys and, after my Sophomore year of high school, a roller skating rink. I mostly hung out with my friends at their houses doing random things that were “nerdy.” I didn’t think much of it until I moved away to college.
In college, I joined (approximately) 39,999 other people in a larger town, with people of all different races, ethnicities, educational backgrounds, financial situations, sexualities, and whatnot. I was blown away by these new people, and made friends quickly and felt comfortable with everyone. During my junior year at school I took a women’s studies class (that I loved) about violence against women. My professor was from Minnesota and one day mentioned that this college wasn’t very diverse. It got me thinking; I came from a little town and this new town was diverse. Professor came from a huge town and this new town was not diverse. Interesting how that works out.
The whole point of this post was that I spent my weekend with a family who absolutely understands tolerance. Mr.Cee is gay. He came out of the closet in his early high school years (in the little town of 20,000) and then moved to an even smaller town. He made friends, his family continued to love him, and nothing was too shocking for them. Mr.Cee moved to New York City where, while doing IV drugs, he contracted HIV. His family, rather than shunning him, have rallied around him and continued to show their love & support towards him. Mr.Cee started a treatment for Hepatitis C a few weeks ago and his medication has made him pretty sick and makes him feel worn out as well. He came to town for a family party, and watching his family surround him with love, even though they haven’t seen him in years, was really cool.
I feel like I lost my train of thought a million times during this post. I may address this again when I have more thoughts actually put together. Enjoy your Tuesday!!
mental and emotional health, tolerance, HIV, AIDS, hepatitis C, family, Roseburg, Oregon State University
June 5th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
I realize this is totally not the point, but Sarah? 20,000? Small???????? You’re making me laugh. You city dweller you…..
I grew up in a town of 4,000 at best, and that was with the population up because the welfare payments were high in that county due to the poverty level. The nearest fast food was 45 minutes away. The nearest hospital that delivered babies was 60 minutes away. I was almost delivered in a pick-up. When I applied to colleges the one I most wanted to go to seemed great until I realized that it was 10x the size of the town I grew up in. That was intimidating, so I went to a small school in a town of 10,000. I went to grad school in a city of 100,000 and then lived in another city that size for some time afterwards.
But do you know how big Cow Pastureville is? 1300 people. THAT is small. We have a hardware store, an ice cream shop, a gift shop, and a gas station/tiny convenience store that is proud it now sells lunchmeat. Groceries and anything else are at least 20 minutes away. This town is in a deep valley, and last night the power went off. It is as dark as if you were completely alone in the woods, even in town.
I have no idea why I’m rambling, but you did make me smile. So thank you.
PS. Hope you’re feeling a little better today