First of all I would like to say that it's really nice of you to share your wisdom with the younger hippies. With your help, we will gain the knowlege you guys had in the 60s and take over where you left off.

I was hoping you could help me with a problem I've been having. You see, I live in a very small town and I'm the only hippie. I am very lonely here and don't have any friends. There is no one here who shares my beliefs and ideas. They're all shallow and have no tolerance for people who are different. I've tried being nice to them but it's no use. I have been thinking about leaving this town to find a place where I can be happy but I'm only 16 and even if I did have a car, I have no where to go. Please give me some advice.

Sounds like a Twilight Zone episode. Remember the one where they do surgery on this woman because she looks so different from everyone else, they see her as completely ugly. When they're finished they remove the bandages from her face to reveal a ravishing beauty. At this point you think, oh she's great looking, they fixed her. Then you see her doctors and they're all deformed looking and ugly. The operation is a failure. She's still ugly by their standards. The woman is shattered.

Is this what it's like for you being the only hippie in an intolerant town? Others have written me with similar situations. You're 16 now and ready for a taste of freedom. Rather than running away, perhaps you can plan a visit to a relative or family friend in another (hopefully larger and more tolerant) town. Once there you can go out on your own and meet people. Within a family or town there are often some individuals who are more open and tolerant than others. Sometimes they're a little different and try to appear to conform but inside they are completely different than people might think. If you know someone like this in your area perhaps you can confide in them and they can help you meet people who are more your style.

Perhaps you can convince your parents to let you go to a nearby city for some big event like a concert. Take a friend and once there you can meet some other people. If you plan on going to college, apply only to larger ones in more interesting places (see our Hippy Havens for ideas). Perhaps your parents will let you travel to some of these schools to check them out. That would be a lot of fun (even if you're not really interested in college!).

Don't give up hope. Soon you will be among your true peers. Oh, by the way the Twilight Zone episode ends with the doctors introducing an ugly (really handsome) man to the ugly (really beautiful) woman thus reassuring the woman that there are others like her. The man tells her she can stay with them and of course she lives happily ever after. The End ...or the Beginning....

-The Old Hippy