The other day while I was in dance, my professor said something really strange to the class. She said, "you know, I have an open heart but not an open mind." We were all kind of confused because it sounded like a completely gibberish sentence. She realized she didn't articulate the point she was trying to make properly...so she began to give us an example.
After coming home one day she simply asked her three girls, "did the mailman come yet?"
Apparently, her daughters replied to that question with devastation, "MOM! How could you even say that?"
"Say what?" she asked.
"You said mailman; you're supposed to say mail carrier because men aren't the only people who deliver our mail. Didn't you know that, Mom?"
She then explained to us how she corrected herself because she has an open heart and knew her daughters were right. But at the same time, even though she was going to consciously make more of an effort, she knew at some point she would probably make the same mistake again because as hard as she tries, her mind just stays a little more closed.
I understand that she didn't give us the greatest analogy and that she didn't make total sense, but nevertheless, I got the point she was trying to make and was inspired by the story that came with it. Now lets keep in mind that these are kids in grade school, but they are already this 'woke'? It is absolutely amazing and it is examples like this that make me so excited for our youth.
I'm going to be honest here, I even use the word 'mailman'; it is what I grew up being taught to say. The fact that the kids of the next generation are going to commonly be using gender neutral words like "mail carrier" is such a great concept to me. They are one step ahead of us, and I'm confident that when they grow up, they are going to do some great things for social change. I mean, they already kind of are. I'm excited for the day that I'm a mom and my kids teach me new ways to better myself as a person. And from here on out you can bet I'm going to try to remember to use the term "mail carrier."
