I asked my seatmate on the subway this morning what station he was getting off at since I needed to get out. It turned out to be the same as mine. I noticed an accent, so I asked him where he was from.
“Zimbabwe,” he said.
I was waiting to hear Berkeley.
“Have you been back recently?” I said.
“Oh maybe 12 years ago. I’m more a native Californian, been here for 28 years,” he said.
“Do you miss it?”
“The world’s a mess,” I said.
He agreed. He was a man in his 40’s, fair skinned, blue eyes, blonde short cut hair. He looked like the average American except for his accent.
I looked around the subway car. The world was in there – African Americans, Latinos, Asians, Koreans, White, and this morning the man from Africa.
Who says America is no longer the melting pot of the world?
They just haven’t ridden a subway lately.
Calvin says, “You want melting pot? Visit your local doggie daycare. It’s dizzying.”
It’s more like a stew now. In a melting pot, the pieces all melt together to form a new compound. We don’t melt together so well anymore…
I suppose you’re right – all those people go back to their enclaves.
I’ll be glad when/if we ever stop hyphenating “-American”…
That’s also very true!