I find myself envying younger women, but not for the typical reasons. I do not wish for more time, firmer skin, smaller frame or naivety from the cruelties of the world. But what I do envy is the scope of information available to them from such a developmental age.
Their lives have been bombarded with data and media, with touch screen technology so accessible they were scrolling thru photos at three-years old more efficiently than a 45 year old and the existence of statistics that indicate more videos are made each day than any of us can watch in a lifetime.
As a result, their brains can easily sort large amounts of data and determine its significance and usability. In other terms, this up and coming generation has been able to come to conclusions and communicate them from an efficient sounding board with such efficiency.
And I envy the women especially for being armed with tools like call outs and terms such as “slut shaming” to help us identify and defend against assault. I do not, however, envy their coming-of-sexual-age at a time when there is such a wide pallet of porn so easily accessible to the guys who will start to finger them. I mean. Ow.
Birds are chirping. Louisville never really sleeps. Not when UPS planes fly and Pan Am trains whistle by. Not when the bar industry gets off at 4am and the truck rush hour starts at 5. Not when your friends go live at 5:30am and you have some amazing connections with the night owls. Hootie hoooo! Or is it Doves?
And data, no matter how infinite, will always bow to the sounds of birds and the lightening of the sky on a Sunday when you don’t have to be anywhere.