The Cosmopolitan Blog

I grew up in London. London is a big city. In a big city, there’s a million more chances of seeing weird and shocking things everyday, than say, in small town middle-America. I say that tongue-in-cheek, of course, because while in London the weirdos are right there in the street for all to see; in small-town middle America, of course, the weirdos are there too, they’re just sitting behind their white pickets fence with a few dead bodies in their basement.

Anyway, so back to London. So having grown up there, trust me, I’ve seen everything (I don’t take such a statement lightly). I went to a school, private as it may have been, that didn’t spare the shocking: drugs, under-age drinking, heavy partying, teenage pregnancies, you name it (again, that whole, ‘oh it couldn’t happen in this private school with high standards and only the crème-de-la-crème students… yeah, right!’).

I then worked in the hotel industry, and whatever it was I hadn’t yet seen, i saw it there, you’d be surprised what those clean-cut business men get up to when they’re away from their wives and staying in swanky hotels paid by their companies.

Fashion is a great example. I honestly don’t think anyone’s fashion sense would shock me, in my life, ever again, after the fashion statements i’ve learnt to be surrounded with and lived with my whole life. Behavior, the same. British people, i hate to break it to you, are not overwhelmingly polite (old school, maybe, but not nowadays anymore). They’re actually quite often rude. They’re not helpful and kind, and the spirit of community, in a big city like London, is practically non-existent.

My apologies, this is not meant to be a rant on London. It’s meant to highlight that, in the 22 years there, i can honestly say, i’ve seen it all. I’ve seen a woman get attacked on a subway platform with no one doing anything. I’ve seen British teenagers tag a bus with graffiti and then run out so fast that they pushed an old lady to the ground and then swore at her for being in the way.

So then, sometimes i worry, because i feel desensitized now to a point where, when something shocking shows up in the news, i no longer get shocked. In Austria, a man held his daughter captive for over 25 years and bore her 7 children. That’s pretty sick right? Don’t get me wrong, i recognize that it’s sick, but at no time was i shocked by the atrocity. I am no longer shocked by the low depth to which the human race can sink. I feel so sorry for the 600 kids that were taken away from that community in the US, because some of them are suspected to be victim of abuse. I think their abusers should be punished to the fullest extent of the law, but the thought of what may have actually been going on there for generations, THAT was not a surprise to me. And THAT, i find sad.

The good news, of course, is that on the other hand, my eyes swell up with tears very easily when i hear of acts of bravery that remind us to just what level of wonderful the human spirit can rise to. Anyway, just thought i’d share my state of mind. I’m now off to go make myself feel better by donating some money to the poor people of Myanmar, please read about what’s going on there, so far the count is 22,000 people have lost their lives in the storm on Friday, and there are 100s of thousands left with no house, food or possessions. Please donate now. Don’t find yourself so blasé that you no longer care: Canadian Red Cross.