The New Decorum: Plants before People?

Friday was one of those mild New York summer days marred by threatening thunderstorms, high winds, and a humidity percentile beyond the confines of modern mathematics.  Not normally a good day for venturing out - there's no way to dress comfortably for such weather - but Mimi was out of milk so we had no choice.  We had to make a shopping run.

Despite the weather Mimi did well and we were nearly done with our uneventful outing when we turned the corner onto 77th and things got a bit interesting.  The sidewalk was lined with trees, many of them newer ones with their branches hanging low and narrowing the path.  As Mimi and I walked down we approached a tree surrounded by three little girls who couldn't have been more than five or six years old.  One girl, the straggler who had been walking behind her friends, had reached up, pulled off some leaves, and then ambushed her friends from behind.  The two victims immediately turned around, ran over to their assailant, grabbed more leaves, and started a leaf fight.  This was when Mimi and I arrived at the tree. 

The kids were just playing, and I didn't really mind, but our path was completely blocked.  Beyond this, the girls were dangerously close to hitting Mimi with the branches of the tree as they frantically scrambled for more leaves to throw at each other.  I looked ahead for the mother who, 20 yards ahead, had finally bothered to turn around to find out what was going on. 

"Girls!  Get over here!"  she yelled, and they did.  She then continued.  "We've talked about this before.  You know you're not supposed to behave like that.  Now go back and apologize."  The girls, ashamedly, turned from their mother and walked back towards us.  The oldest looked up and said, "I'm sorry..." and just as I was about to say it was OK, she finished her sentence, "...tree."  I thought this a bit funny and cute until I looked up and saw that the mother, satisfied that the wrong had now been righted, turned and moved on toward the park. 

Now I didn't say anything, but I sure as hell wanted to.  If I had been that child 30 years ago my parents would have made me apologize to the people, not the plants!  We seem to be entering a society that judges behavior based on how we respond to things - plants, animals, the environment, - rather than people.  In some ways I can't help but feel that certain commodities, luxuries, and ideas have been anthropomorphised so extensively that actual people come second.   

There is some hope, though, that ours is still a society that puts people first.  Last night we heard word that the New York State Legislature passed the Marriage Equality bill.  Regardless of how one feels about this controversial topic, I think it can still be seen a clear instance that we, as a society, still have the ability to stretch beyond our personal beliefs and focus on that most important aspect we share: our humanity. 

So, to close, I'd like to give a little two-picture homage to this great city and state.  These were taken from the top of the Empire State Building, around midnight, last week.  After all these years, the lights of New York can still sometimes burn quite bright. 

Steve