4th of July Reflections

 Shocked at all these international World Cup fans making videos about America...and loving it. It's not everyone, but it's 90% raves. Ranch dressing, Buc-ee's, Texas BBQ, and overall hospitality. Apparently, a lot of them think Americans are, on the whole, more optimistic, friendlier, more encouraging, and more likely to hustle.

There's a saying: if you want to hate America, stay online. If you want to love America, drive across a few states. And I've done that a few times...

1. When I was little, we drove from Miami up the peninsula and then hit Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and ended up in Texas. This is a black family in the 1980s before cell phones or internet. And the experience was 90%...amazing. It was so much better than flying because when we drove across America, the states really felt like different cultures. Totally unique but somehow all connected. Not by race or history. Connected by an idea. And yes, along the way there were contradictions, some racism, some hypocrisy, battles over this 'thing that made all these different states and ppl American...but most ppl accepted 'yeah we're all together.' Most ppl saw us traveling and helped us out or gave us free stuff that spoke to their community and then encouraged us to keep exploring.

2. when I was in my teens, we drove down the coast of California. From San Fran to LA. Once again, it felt like travel through 4 different countries. Unique but united. Same vibe of people, same experiences. 

3. When I was in my 30s, I drove across the country in a U-haul with a friend. We were dropping off some supplies at a Buddhist temple in Arizona. We picked up the U-haul in Brooklyn, loaded it in Manhattan, and took off. Drove through NY, NJ, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and finally arrived in Arizona. The experience was life-changing. Once again, American felt like a bunch of different wildly-colored quilt patches that were stitched together by some feeling or belief. The cook at the Waffle House in Oklahoma City made us his unique breakfast for our late-night dinner, and it was amazing. Cracker Barrel, going into a bar in the middle of the country and seeing cowboys on a break from work with cowboy hats and boots...like the real thing. Talking to a Mexican-American family in New Mexico who came to the country and were homeless, and they just worked. And they lived in a huge house with cars and boats. When I asked them, 'How is it coming here and getting started?' The father said, 'It's SO EASY!!!! You just work hard, and you can get ahead.' He didn't have the same opportunities in Mexico b/c of corruption and the cartel. He arrived in New Mexico, slept on the street for weeks. He said finding food was easy b/c it's everywhere and so were jobs.

And it's not the big cities. Granted, I love NYC and Miami and LA and Chicago, Dallas etc. But it's the little towns that were interesting. It's the little stops. 

When I was working on "Mitchelville" with Lean Ensemble in Hilton Head, South Carolina, I just drove around to these different spots in SC and Georgia. I met so many construction workers from South America who said the same thing as the New Mexican family: it's so easy if you work. In Salisbury, North Carolina, I was working on "Running on Fire" at Lee Street Theatre and on days-off I drove to Asheville and other spots. There was a weird tingling feeling as I moved around in this new state. Everything is so big and expansive and different...and woven together by this invisible thread of 'American'ness.' 

And the last few months, being in New Harmony, Indiana (pop 700) and Shepherdstown, West Virginia (pop 1500), it's the same feeling: this is so much American-ness on a smaller scale. So much more vibrant b/c the towns are so small that there are no franchise restaurants or malls. Life revolves around mom and pop shops, plucky entrepreneurs, and a Main Street that is a few blocks long. And you quickly know everyone. And most ppl want to be known.

I guess these FIFA fans are reminding me of my cross-country road trips and all my small-town excursions over the years. And making me feel proud. Yes, yes, I can go into all my issues with this country. But sometimes it's good to acknowledge privilege and be grateful.  Grateful for what the ancestors built and the threads that keep this weird, wild, enormous thing called the USA together.