Thursday

Everywhere, America


^^^America is everywhere.

At one time it still seemed to matter whether you were from the Yankee north or the Ignorant south, the east-is-least or the west-is-best. At one time it mostly mattered if you were a black slave or if you were poor white trash. Rich or poor mattered. Now it just seems to matter what concentric ring of the nearest megalopolis in which you exist. City mice versus exurban mice chasing rat race tail.

People at the Yolo County Fair seem to have more in common with people at the Evangeline Township Polish Festival (far outer rings) than either have with San Francisco or Detroit, for example.

^^^America is everywhere.

Yes to rednecks, slednecks, and wetnecks. Up with all my wetbacks, snowbacks, and greenbacks. We all are true. All are the same.

Race has become somewhat of an oddity. Being the only black wandering through some rural grocery accompanied by a Chinese woman may be less odd than intuitively believed. Our apparent class mattered; the way we carried ourselves, the way we spoke, the way spent our money, and the manner in which we were so non-self-consciously nonplussed about everything and so technologically distracted. Less put-off than curious.

^^^America is everywhere.

This story is also part of America. The part nobody wants to see, hear, or know. Stories like this need to be told. And so sorry about the encroachment upon your dreams. But the penetration of your dreams is so vital as it alters how we live our collective realities.

Not sure where and what to complain about anymore but I do believe I have been complaining about all the wrong things for far too long. Selfish jerk I am. Thinking my eyes are open when they have been shut for so, so long. The hubris is as embarrassing as it is naive.

^^^America is everywhere.

Nowhere is everywhere. Everywhere is nowhere. Nobody cares, nobody knows. We all live our The American Way in terms of life, liberty, and the hoarding of property the pursuit of what the TeeVee tells us to believe happiness should be. We live for now and not for tomorrow and never for yesterday. Just a fact of our Modern Ways. Lemmings painted into panicky corners.

I'm just like you, my siblings. We are the same. We are family. We are as irrelevant as we are vital. We are what they call a dime a dozen. To hate me is to hate yourself. To love yourself is to adore me.

^^^America is everywhere.