A man climbed on, he was shaped like a midget.
As we walked towards me I realized he was almost 6 feet tall.
I've wondered about midgets before, how there is a uniformity to shape and specific features and such, regardless of ethnicity.
I was a little surprised. I've never seen one so big.
Coral told me this evening that if he was tall he wasn't a midget. I can agree that technically he may not have been a midget, but he had the shape and appearance of a midget in every aspect - except height.
---------------
Later in the day on my way home I had to sit with the knowledge that a friendly acquaintance is fiercely anti-American. Fiercely. Disgusted by us, hates the accent, can't stand having us here. Nationalism takes so many different directions. Most people view it as patriotic or something like that, but when you let the anger and wrongs of the past - those that didn't fall on your shoulders, or your Moms or Dads or Grandparents - possibly those that were even created by the ever-present propaganda machine - those issues which don't have any immediate relevancy to your life - when you let that bitterness dictate the direction of your daily encounters and determine how you assess and interact with those around it may be time to think about what kind of person you want to be. Carrying around all that animosity is not going to lead to a happy, healthy, and fulfilling future.
When I first got here it was kind of funny to hear how anti-American so many people were - not truly anti-American, but rather how frustrated or disgusted people would get when encountering the stereo-typical American tourist. "Damn American" was not an uncommon phrase... followed up quickly by, "Not you Jen, I didn't mean you." And I would laugh and actually agree cause that damn person would be one of those perpetuating that horrible idea of the fat loud obnoxious over-bearing demanding ignorant self-obsessed over-indulged typical American. It's not so funny anymore, because it's becoming more and more apparent that, at least in the school system, it's true. And outside of school, it can be too. And it's embarrassing. But I hate getting lumped in with that generalization. And it goes the other way too - why would anyone ever want to leave the US? I've heard that from so many people... how horrible it would be for us over here, how primitive everywhere else is, how slow, ignorant, rude, archaic, etc... and not just HERE, but anywhere, everywhere outside of the only 50 states worth seeing. I don't like that frame of mind either - not one I can grasp... which should be obvious considering that I'm no longer living in the US. (side note - it seems to me that anyone who, in referring to the United States of America in a casual exchange, is a native citizen and uses either United States of America or USA - rather than US or something else - is usually come from a nationalistic standpoint... just my observation - thoughts?)
And now I'm slightly less comfortable around a few people because I don't think they can see beyond labels. Too much meaning can be tied in to words. And words have only the meaning you give them.
No comments:
Post a Comment