Raising our Standards

People take what's given, they eat what's put in front of them and they do what they see being done. People will adapt to their surroundings whether that means lowering their standards and dumbing themselves down or stretching what's possible to meet an expectation that's way above them. People's capabilities are dependent on what's required of them.

Which is why its disappointing that at the women health free teen clinic that Im at right now, the waiting room is piled with Cosmopolitan, Vogue, People, Us and 5 other celebrity gossip crap magazines.

There's not one Time, Newsweek, National Geographic, any of the magazines I'd normally expect to find in a waiting room catering to a wider demographic; magazines that if provided, I guarantee would be read or at least flipped through. If you are waiting in this waiting room, you basically have no choice but to read Cosmo's 20 Tips to Tingling Full-Body Sexy Sex or People's Fashion Face-Off 'Who Wore it Better?' in which two celebrities are pictured wearing the same outfit and you choose which one looks better. Cool. Tell me there's not a single girl in this waiting room who wouldn't look at a Time magazine headline about the oil spill in the gulf and pick it up thinking, 'Hmm I really have no idea what's going on with that but I've heard so much about it that I'd like to know.'

People have to stop underestimating each other and themselves, start doing what they believe in and genuinely enjoy and expect the same in others. People have to stop catering to the lowest common denominator. It stifles the rest of us and holds back those who are being catered to from growing.