I watched the movie "Hairspray" the other day, and it started me thinking about how people are intolerant of difference.

It also brought back memories of the 60s and 70s and the changes that took place then. ThAnere was the cultural revolution in music and dress, and then there was the civil rights movement. A little while ago, I believe it was on Martin Luther King’s birthday, Hillary Clinton made some comments that she got crucified for. She made a statement about LBJ signing the Civil Rights Bill, and many people got angry. She was right, though. The civil rights movement would never have survived if it hadn’t been for a few white people who decided to stand up with blacks and take a stand. In those days, Congress didn’t have very many blacks, if any, so the laws that were passed were passed by white people. Of course, those laws would have taken many more years to come about if it hadn’t been for people like Martin Luther King, Jr. bringing the issue to the forefront. His admiration of how Gandhi brought the British Empire to its knees in india without firing a shot gave him hope that the same could happen here. And he was right.

The movie proved again that one person or just a handful of people can make a difference. Inventions do not usually come about by a group. The geniuses usually come up with their brilliant ideas alone, and many of them are seen as being different and some are even scoffed at because they are different. The list of such people just goes on and on; you can make up your own list. Most of the geniuses who invent things are doing it not for money or fame, but to improve the plight of their fellow humans.

One contemporary that I thought about was Tom Cruise. I don’t consider him a genius, but he is a brilliant actor. After September 11, 2001, he wanted to do something to help the first responders in New York City, so he used some of his many millions to open a center which could help them overcome the adverse effects of breathing all the toxic and noxious substances. But do you hear about how many people have been helped, about the number of people who were dying but are now healthy because of this program? No, you hear about how he is trying to convert everyone to Scientology. If you know of something that can help your fellow man, aren’t you obligated to do everyihing possible to make sure others are able to benefit from it? Well, not if you are Tom Cruise. No, if you do something out of the goodness of your heart, you are accused of having ulterior motives.

Which brings me to the real point of this. These days, anyone who is a little bit different has a really rough time. Look at the kids at the mall. They all want to dress alike, walk alike and on and on. You look at the clothes in the stores, and so many of the clothes for older women look just like the clothes they make for teenagers. Everyone wants to look like a kid. But really think about it: people today seem to want more and more to be just like everyone else. Difference is laughed at and scoffed.

This is pretty scary, because it means that those people who would come up with future inventions are trying their best to conform and not think "outside the box." All those people who worked their whole lives to gain racial or sexual equality now may be completely undermined by someone like Paris Hilton. That is an awful thought, isn’t it?

So, dare to be different. Let your uniqueness show, and teach your grandchildren and great-grandchildren that it is okay to be different. We were not made with a cookie cutter. And thank goodness for that.