Equality in the Netherlands

The following comes from a recent Wordsmith. I offer it 'cause it's one of the most hilarious offerings I've encountered

From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
Subject: Travel report: The Netherlands (Part 1 of a series)

This summer I visited the Netherlands. For the next few weeks I’ll share my observations here in AWADmail.

The Land of Skyscrapers

After I landed at Schiphol airport, I took a train to the city. As I came out of the Amsterdam train station, my neck was tilted back.

This wasn’t New York. There are no skyscrapers. The Netherlands is a land of tall people. Average height is more than six feet. That means about half the people are over six feet.

As I walked toward my hotel, crossing several bridges on the network of canals on the way, I thought about why the Dutch are so tall. My theory is that it may have something to do with the fact much of the Netherlands is below sea level. It’s nature’s way to make sure that ultimately everyone is at the same eye level. For the same reason people in mountainous regions are usually short.

We can look up to these tall Hollanders, literally and figuratively. With a live-and-let-live attitude, they have led the world in many things. They were the first to legalize same-sex weddings, back in 2001. They have decriminalized weed, but their per capita consumption is less than that of the US. And they have legalized much more that people in other parts of the world might regard as sinful.

Yet, this was no Sodom and Gommorah. I met people who happily go about their lives ... bicycle to work, make art, care for the sick, laugh, live, and let live.

Amsterdam has more than 1200 bridges -- perhaps all of us should be making more bridges and fewer walls.