As I was turning on my ePodium and preparing for today’s lecture, I greeted one of my students as she walked in class. I work to make eye contact and speak to each of my students as they walk through the door. Today was no different.

I get inspired by my students’ wardrobe choices and love watching how they express themselves. Today brought a bit of a shock though.

I’ve seen a millennial sporting a RUN DMC t-shirt on the streets of Hangzhou, China.

I’ve seen breakdancing at a restaurant in Laos.

I’ve even heard this phrase while walking down the street in Sydney, Australia.

But, I wasn’t expecting to see it or hear it in my classroom in Saudi Arabia.

Today in real life,
in Saudi Arabia,
in my classroom,
a student walked in with an “AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT” t-shirt.

So, after I picked up my jaw from the ground, this moment reminded me of three things:

#1 Globalization is happening–especially in pop culture.

#2 Dr. Maya Angelou was right.  “We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.”

#3 We all love a good laugh.

7 x 30

Human Family by Dr. Maya Angelou

I note the obvious differences
in the human family.
Some of us are serious,
some thrive on comedy.

Some declare their lives are lived
as true profundity,
and others claim they really live
the real reality.

The variety of our skin tones
can confuse, bemuse, delight,
brown and pink and beige and purple,
tan and blue and white.

I’ve sailed upon the seven seas
and stopped in every land,
I’ve seen the wonders of the world
not yet one common man.

I know ten thousand women
called Jane and Mary Jane,
but I’ve not seen any two
who really were the same.

Mirror twins are different
although their features jibe,
and lovers think quite different thoughts
while lying side by side.

We love and lose in China,
we weep on England’s moors,
and laugh and moan in Guinea,
and thrive on Spanish shores.

We seek success in Finland,
are born and die in Maine.
In minor ways we differ,
in major we’re the same.

I note the obvious differences
between each sort and type,
but we are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.

We are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.

We are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.