Perspective

I was watching one of my favorite programs, The Stream, on Al Jazeera last week when I noticed that one of the guests was dressed a bit oddly. The Stream is an interactive program that has live guests, and guests on video chat who call in via Skype, to discuss a particular topic (i.e. the uprising in Syria). It is televised, as well as streamed over the web, with the conversation starting on the network channel and moving on-line for an extended discussion at the conclusion of the televised portion of the program. Throughout the show the hosts pose questions they have prepared, while facilitating the discussion with additional questions from participants from the various media sources (Twitter, Facebook, Skype, SMS, etc...). The show broadcasts from a studio at the Newseum in downtown DC.

So, I was watching the program and attempting to listen to the input being given by the guests via Skype, as well as from the in-studio guest. The in-studio guest was a woman. She was dressed in long black pants, wearing a black, bulky sweater. I couldn't tell if she was wearing a turtleneck or if she just had a scarf wrapped around her neck, but I was just struck by the amount of clothing that she was wearing. I was watching her and was so confused by her outfit. She seemed to have so many layers of clothing on, but she was in America. I couldn't understand why she was buried under this over-sized black sweater in a country where she didn't have to cover. I was staring at her and trying to make sense of what I was seeing on the TV.

Then I saw the street scene outside. The wind was whipping around the flags in front of the building next door to the studio. The ground was wet. It was cloudy and dark. The streetlights were on outside. After a bit I realized it was February, in DC...and it actually dips below 50 degrees there in winter. The woman was cold. She was just trying to keep warm, not conforming to some cultural norm. It is funny how quickly your perspective changes when you get outside of your cultural norm. :)