Vive la différence!
A while back, I saw something that really set me to thinking. It was one of those East Tennessee scorchers: temperatures in the middle 90s and the humidity even higher. I was in a department store, leaning on a clothes rack, enjoying the air conditioning more than the shopping, and I observed a woman wearing a garment that covered her from head to toe, leaving only her face exposed, walking toward front of the store. Since her feet were not visible, she seemed to be gliding along the floor. Coming from the opposite direction was a young lady dressed in short shorts, a low-cut, belly-exposing top, and noisy flip-flops. As they passed each other right in front of me, they exchanged the briefest of glances, and continued on their way. These two women didn’t stare at each other, they didn’t smirk or scoff; they merely registered the presence of the other, and moved on with their lives, completely accepting their differences. The differences are what got me to thinking. We all