What We Hold Dear

(Somewhat related to this post about the familiarity of the graffiti found in Pompeii.)

I said it before, and I'll say it again: people don't really change. Not only that, but we're all here NOT CHANGING in exactly the same ways. We really are all very much alike, a sentiment bandied around since the feel-good 60s to promote tolerance--possibly because, when you're THAT fucking high, you can no longer remember or recognize any of the people around you so why the hell NOT treat them all like friends? Even if it turns out you didn't even know them, you do now!

Without opening a can of worms here, current popular opinion gives people an automatic, unconscious negative reaction to hearing about countries and people in the Middle East. The way it's talked about, it's like we're two different species. And while we do have seemingly irreconcilable differences in the social, religious, and political we hold the fact still remains that WE AREN'T DIFFERENT.

I found a series of photos called 'Things People Carry', which is essentially asking total strangers if it's okay to take pictures of the contents of their purse or pockets or bags or briefcases. This particular set--155 photos in all, so be warned if you have a slow connection--comes from Iran. The things you carry with you, on you, every day--the things you wouldn't leave home without--are pretty personal. Here's the thing though. Except that it's all in Arabic, IT COULD BE THE STUFF YOU HAVE IN YOUR BAG RIGHT NOW. Money, keys, and credit cards; makeup, medicine; notebooks, pens and pencils, books, and glasses; cell phones, iPods, smart phones; gum, candy, snacks, CDs, and tissues. Even an iPad with an anime-style desktop image.

These are not foreign items. These aren't things we don't recognize. These are the same things people in the West and Asia and the Americas carry with them every day. I probably have weirder things in my bag than any of these 155 people did.

People like to point out that under our skin we all look exactly the same but you don't even have to go that far. Just turn out your pockets. You have more in common with everyone else in the world than you realize.