15

There is a remarkable lack of courtesy these days and it saddens me. Driving today, I really saw it--when did we stop letting people over when they were signaling? Why don't we smile and wave at people and just let them in? It doesn't make you get where you are going any slower, so why not just let people in? I blame cell phones. We are all so busy with our phones, with texting with ignoring the people in front of us that we simply do not cherish anyone any more.

We are so busy with ourselves that we ignore our children. You see it on the playground, kids falling and hurting themselves and their parents don't even notice it--they are talking. Forget about not just watching them play and having joy in the play, they don't even notice when they are in trouble. The phone controls us--hell, even I have fallen victim to it and I hate my cell phone. When my phone rings poor Tallulah say "phone, phone," like it is something important that I cannot ignore, like it is more important than she is.

The world is too much with us--and in all of this hustle and bustle, in all of this noise, we try to distinguish ourselves in obscene ways. Like tattoos, for instance? Remember when not so long ago the only people who had tattoos were marines and people in motor bike gangs? And then everyone needed to be cool, everyone needed to be different and so everyone got a tattoo. Don't believe me? Just go to Seaworld--where everyone walks around in their swimsuits proudly baring pictures and names that cover large swaths of their bodies. I could see Annabelle staring at them and I didn't know how to explain why she can't have one--why I don't have one, other than to put a judgment on it, which I try not to do.

But why? Why is it ok to not let people over and to have a tattoo of someone's face on your back? Because you can? Because you are free? Because this is the U.S. and we are individuals, and we worship the individuals?

So where does that leave me? Somewhat courteous non-tattooed redhead seeks extremely courteous non-tattooed asian for as long as they both shall live? And in this ordinary, boring way, boring in the way of 23 year olds getting married before they've seen or done anything,and living a dull, ordinary life, did we make what was the old normal, the new unusual?

The tattoo of my life would be a tapestry woven and worn, colorful in some places and bare in others, but always, always, woven, entangled with his name.

Happy 15.