Jane's Jottings

Many moons ago, my mother made a declaration about steak:  “When you’re young, you can’t afford it, and when you’re old, you can’t chew it.” I beg to differ on the age front; a good ribeye steak should be tender enough to barely need to chew.  But, this statement of Mother’s was made in Britain, where ribeye steaks only became a thing in the 1980s.  Prior to that time, British butchers traditionally cut beef differently than in the United States.  Expansion of global markets and improvements in transportation has now made the ribeye the favored cut among Britons (as of 2023). 

The basic tenet of my mother’s conclusion, however, can easily be applied to other elements in life, such as travel.  When one is young, it is easier to travel more of the world on a shoestring budget, because youth can go for hours without sufficient sleep while flying to the farthest reaches of the earth, can make do with uncomfortable sleeping accommodations in hostels, and do not need enough legroom to prevent DVTs when flying long distances. As a typical (traditional) university student, you have not yet earned, and become accustomed to, the creature comforts that come from being an adult in the workforce, with a home, a family and a retirement savings account.  And your bones have not yet begun to speak to you daily about Arthur Itis.  

That said, the world in which we find ourselves today is not one that beckons to student travelers without some discernment.  There are still areas of the world that are safe for travel, but there are many historical cities that have been overrun by immigrants whose culture does not mesh with the cities in question.  One acquaintance recently shared that his college-age daughter flew to Paris, only to call her father in tears because she had been groped by Muslim immigrants, and no longer felt safe in the city.  Her father paid to fly his daughter home early. 

Sadly, a culture that treats women like chattels is still the norm in some parts of the world today.  Too many regions espouse a culture in which women are viewed merely as sexual objects, and – certainly – second-class citizens.  My mother related how Indian men on the streets of Mumbai (then Bombay) would grab at her pregnant belly in the late 1950s.  Our father learned not to walk too far away from her.  My elder sister had to fight off a man who attempted to rape her when she backpacked her way to India to see her birthplace as a student nurse in the early 1980s.  My other sister and a friend spent hours in a police station in Cairo after a man groped my sister on a local train in the late 1980s.  Those of you in the know will realize that they wasted their time trying to report the incident.

Having experienced street vendors literally in your face in Singapore, and burka-clad women giving me the evil eye in Malaysia, I really have no inclination to go and see those areas of the world where civilization is a loosely applied word, and/or where women are complicit in allowing themselves to be mistreated, and are only too eager to see their fellow women abused.  After all, the saying, “United we stand” may come from the Bible, but it rings true, regardless of one’s chosen religion.  A number of ancient and current societies were/are run by women, and this proves that women have the wherewithal to overcome current day challenges in areas of the world that are hostile towards women.  

Peoples of the world have long been tribal.  This reality is no different today than it was 1000 years ago.  Even within European nations that have historically been caucasian, tribes have been a perennial part of any given country’s makeup.  Scotland’s nine major tribes identified by the Romans have given way to a clan system that today totals 267 officially recognized clans.   Each tribe has its own identity, and its own culture. 

To ignore both history and current day reality, therefore, and pretend that we are no longer tribal and can all live together peacefully in any given nation of the world is ludicrous, to say the least.  Judeochristian and Mohammedan beliefs cannot truly co-exist, and this is not merely an archaic conclusion from the time of the crusades.  If you closely examine the struggles in specific areas of the west, say between genetically British and non-native Saracens, for example, you will come to the realization that Christians and Muslims mix like oil and water, i.e., not at all.  

Being open to others who are different from ourselves is admirable.  It increases our understanding of people in the world at large.  It makes us better individuals.  Setting aside our own beliefs and values so that we do not offend others who are different from us is insane.  

Forcing native peoples to withstand morally corrupt behaviors of the invaders does nothing but remove indigenous freedoms and throw fuel on a smoldering fire.  The tinderbox has been lit.  Don’t be surprised when the box explodes and we see a repeat of the Saracens being thrown out of Europe.  The time WILL come, and – truth be told – it is way past due.