Power Trip

Okay, so maybe I won't be capable of sitting down and writing about Russia for awhile. I'm still having a hard time just talking about it ... Certainly doesn't help that I would like nothing more than to turn around and go back.

However, little topics seem to be repeating themselves, and one of those came up today.

While my family was out for lunch, I saw a woman sit down in the booth next to ours. She was wearing a white T-shirt that had two simple words emblazoned across the front -- "GOT POWER?"

To understand why I would even notice this, you have to understand one particular difference between Russian and American cultures. You see, in Russia, "girl power" is little more than a silly idea. I'm not saying women can't be independent; however, most women have little desire to prove that they are just as tough as men. The benefits? Men carry women's bags, handle the luggage, and are the main laborers in the workforce.

I had a couple of seriously American moments while we were working over there, specifically while we were building a fence at a school in St. Petersburg. In the US, I'm not considered much of a girl power fanatic. However, I was still raised in the right era for it to be part of my personality, and some part of me was anxious to prove that I could handle the work, especially since it appeared to me that one man working with us didn't want me digging holes. (It was later pointed out that some of that may have been because of the superstition about women sitting on uncovered ground.)

Seeing that woman's shirt today reminded me that I'm in a different world now, where girl power is an everyday thing. The truth of the matter is that I'm really not sure how I feel about that. Women can do a lot of things, although I'd disagree that we can do anything men can. It works both ways, too -- men can't do everything women can do, or they can't do it as well. We're designed differently, whether we like it or not.

Of course, there's another aspect to the T-shirt. It might have been a question for eligible men. Sort of an "Approach only if the answer is yes" kind of deal. Seems farfetched, but anything's possible. I'm sure there are hundreds of other possibilities, too, but the girl power thing was the one I was chewing on.

I think that's all my brain can handle today. Quick hi to Mr. Jonesevich, if he's reading. Same for my girls :) Take it easy, everybody.


If God had wanted us to fly, He would have given us tickets.
-Mel Brooks