May Contain Peanuts

Gov'na!

Who is this hip elderly woman pictured? No, it's not my grandma, though she is a grandmother. In the case you're monarchally unaware, this is a nice portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. She looks stylin' in her lavender shirt and pearls, hardly the picture of the monarchy you expect or visualize when you hear the words "Queen Elizabeth II".

It turns out this admired lady is visiting the good ol States for a while and her first visit in the great state of Virginia. She's visiting the old settlement of Jamestown for it's 400th anniversary. I feel this is quite a valiant gesture, seeing as how this English expedition started what was to begin the eventual American colonies and Revolutionary war, ending the potential English expansive dynasty. But anypoo, as I rode home yesterday listening to the 'news' on the radio, there was a story about how there's information available to us unknowing Americans as to the proper etiquette if one is in the queen's presence.

Here's a link: http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKN0322882820070504?src=050407_1058_DOUBLEFEATURE_other_news

Now, being a content American, I am unaware with the customs and loyalty of a person in a monarchal governmental system, but I feel that the time for a divide among people is no longer necessary. What I mean by this is this: the queen, or any other monarch or head of state or even celebrity for that matter is still just another human being. They are no different than you or me other than they are a hell of a lot more popular than you or me. Call me ungrateful or even disrespectful, but I see no point of 'avoiding eye contact' or 'stopping eating when she does'. Sure, she's a great person, she's the head of a nation, but she was born into it and is queen just because she is. There's nothing outstanding about it.

Yeah, it is good to have leaders and people to look up to, and sure, these people deserve some sort of respect, even if just for security purposes. But in these times of equal rights, the information age, etc; does there still exist the idea of someone being better or higher up simply by birthright or by what others have decided? The President was chosen by half the country, meaning 150 million people see him as a great leader. Does that mean he is any more of a person that any of us? Just like your boss, your mayor, your doctor, your police officers, your local judge, even your parents for that matter; they are all human beings. They all have problems and opportunities, families, cares, likes and dislikes. I know when I was younger there was an obvious class scale that I knew to respect. Some people were more important than I was and being a child I had no way to argue. But now I am one of the whole, a person on this world who gets to enjoy it all just as much as the next person. No longer do I need to feel intimidated or inadequate when conversing with a person 'of higher authority'.

This post is not meant as a argument for anarchy, goverment works and it needs people to make it work. Rather, my point is to realize that of all these positions and figureheads, there are still actual people behind them, human beings to go along with the titles that are no different than anyone anywhere. Respect everyone and expect the same for yourself. Oh, and long live the queen... and me, and everyone.