This is the place where the very same Indian women who skin
is covered in dirt and scales sit begging on the sidewalk and still find time
to pull out a cell phone from underneath their clothing and check a text
message or make a call on their cell phone.
An odd contrast. Are you begging
for money for more text time or to simply pay your monthly bill? Is it mandatory that everyone have a cell
phone, in the most poorest of areas? The
modern talon sticking deep into our daily lives for sure.
We have a new Pope! I
know this because I stood at the counter of a small paper shop while buying a
roll of tape. The customers using the
computers came up to see who the new Pope was when the announcement came ‘Habemus
Papam’. Foreigner and native stand side
by side as the announcement and unveiling of the new man happened. The small TV behind the counter proved to be
a historical moment. The first Argentinean
Pope. My tape was 18 pesos.
Later, I ask a friend what the stage was being built for in
the town square. There is a public protest, the town is enraged of the incident of a young girl. He tells me the story
of a girl, 22 years old, who was absconded and held for ransom. The amount was roughly $2,000. The kidnappers were paid and the girl’s
throat cut and dumped out in the countryside.
It made no sense. She was deaf
and dumb, an easy target. Did the
kidnappers know this? Was this
accidental, luck of the draw that they grabbed a victim who could never say
anything or tell anyone anything? According
to the story, the bad guys told the parents not to seek help; they did, so they
killed the daughter-after getting a paycheck.
North Korea
are running television ads boasting burning down the Whitehouse and setting off
a nuclear bomb in New York City. One of the commercials shows a tired young Korean,
laying his head down to sleep and having a wonderful dream of NYC skyscrapers
on fire after the massive detonation. I
hear a ruckus in the street and go to see what all the fuss is about. Mexican ingenuity. A large ladder is full extended across the street,
up to a rooftop. A second, smaller
ladder is on the opposite side of the street, propped up against the large
ladder midway, to provide support. A
huge crate rests on the curb, ready to be hoisted up by a group of guys pulling
the huge item up the over-extended ladder with long ropes. I stand and watch the team try. They huff and puff and barely raise the crate
before it becomes painfully obvious it will all come crashing down unless there
is proper support. The foreman runs to
the woman of the house and tells here, “I am going to have to find another
ladder to put beneath it. I will be back
as soon as I can”. She smiles, waves him
on and steps inside. Traffic, both of
the automobile type and human type are left to pass underneath the looming bad
luck monolith.
The President’s approval rating is in freefall and the
catchphrase is a simple one, “drone”.
The newly elected Mayor has bought new patrol cars for the town. They even hung a huge banner proclaiming the
grand event near the shopping center. Every
cop in town is cruising extra slow these days, making sure all eyes are cast
upon their hot new patrol cars. The best
part is that the Mayor has put his term in dates on every patrol car so the populace
is well aware that this great new arm of the law will only be in effect for
three years. When he leaves, we will
have to resort to lord knows what.
There is a crash of symbols, and the sound of brass
instruments. It is drawing closer and
closer. The sound ricochets down the
corridor of the narrow street. I open
the door to see exactly what is up.
There is a donkey wearing a hat and a small girl leading him on. There are two giant papier-mâché figures following
the donkey, followed by a marching band, which in turn is followed by revelers celebrating
their friends getting married. Do
drones even exist in this world? At
least for now they don’t, everything stops so the procession can wind their way
through neighborhood streets. This is
about the joining of lives, not the intrusion and destruction of lives. Hope and change are in full effect at this
very moment, but not as we Americans know it.
They are making grand plans for this joining of hands and we are getting
the brunt of a far reaching power grab.
We have to drive to the mega-warehouse shop in the following
town. As we wind down the stretch of
highway I see a rancher burning off part of his field. Another rancher driving his livestock across
a dusty field, with a single cow visible and all other lost in a cloud of dust
as each one adds to the height and density of the rolling cloud. There is a father riding a three wheeled
bicycle in a ditch, with his young ones in the front cart, snuggled between two
front wheels and free to breathe in the exhaust of the passing cars at eye level. On the radio a local radio personality tells
us about what is going on out in the countryside. Two dentists are volunteering time to go out
and teach children how to brush their teeth.
Yes, even in the age of sexting, Tweeting and torrents it is shocking to
hear that people still do not own toothbrushes and toothpaste. It is a real problem in the vicinity and
almost too much for two concerned dentists.
The voice on the radio asks for others to donate and help with the
cause. She then goes on to ask for help
in getting people clean drinking water.
I then find out that there actually is a correlation between
kids and dental care and health and education.
Speaking to a nurse, I am told that yes, even in America it is a
real concern that kids in the inner city learn to brush their teeth and take
care of themselves. Believe it or not,
the line can be drawn between high school drop outs and kids not brushing their
teeth. All this and the headlines tell
me that Madonna is protesting for gays to be allowed in to the Boy Scouts.
Droning and moaning and meanwhile donkeys roam the streets, and kids can’t
brush their teeth.
Will the world look any different through Google glasses?
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