The days have passed so quickly, half of the millennium year has gone. So many people were apprehensive, as we entered the new year, about what was ahead, while others were optimistic, and some just shook their heads. Then came the announcement, sudden and startling, of the discovery of the human genome. Is this another step, another embarking on a quest into the Unknown? The idea excited me. I wanted to share the news.
It was with a passenger on the bus. He wasn’t the least bit concerned. All he could talk about were the candidates in the coming election. To hear him harangue I had the impression he could be one of the candidates. I was alone with my discovery and thought: Everyday is an opportunity to meet people. Indeed, I find it an amazing study of individuals and their traits. Everyone differs, if only by a slight difference. One person gives a negative opinion, another uses an adjective.
The diversity of people in L.A. brings out the complexity of individuals and poses a challenge to the inquiring mind. The approaches to the solution of problems manifest the variety of individuals involved. And looking back on the civilizations and cultures the individual minds represent, makes one wonder. Man has not changed, his reactions are still the same. So we have the same, if not similar, problems as before. Problems which could be resolved working together: basically, sharing and caring, fundamentals to getting along with each other. Proven guides individual ethnic groups have chosen for their pathways.
We have come a long way from the past. We still have to travel some distance. How long we cannot foresee. The wonderful discoveries in the biological and scientific worlds should be treated carefully. The Supreme Being created man in His image but allowed him to dictate his own actions, for good or bad. Somewhere, always, is His guidance that is our hope and answer as we go forward into the future.


Dulce M. Salvador is a Los Angeles writer.