Today I said goodbye to my graduating 5th graders while frantically completely my portion of pre-summer program cleaning, which meant sifting through and organizing tubs full of paint, corks, felt scraps, pipe cleaners, beads, buttons, paper doilies, glitter, and God only knows what else. Just like that my first year of being a defacto elementary school educator was over and I was hopping on the bus to the airport to go to Spokane for the Democratic State Convention.
Usually nothing puts me in a worse mood than going to the airport. To me it is a tangible symbol of the erosion of our civil liberties...but surprisingly I didn't get searched, puffed, or detained. Something interesting happened on the plane though. Just before take off, after the i-pod Nazi came around and yelled at me for keeping my headphones on during the pre-departure instructions, the captain came on the intercom and told us that our flight would be hosting a fallen soldier and that another soldier (Colonel somebody) was on board to escort him. I had seen a man in full uniform sitting in first class, but hadn't thought much of it. The pilot said he wanted to dedicate the flight to that soldier. In my mind I thought it was just a guy who had been wounded. It wasn't until we landed in Spokane and I saw the full guard of men in military dress uniform standing next to an open hearse that it fully registered to me what he had meant by fallen. I don't even know his name. I asked the flight attendant on the way out, but she couldn't remember.
It really got me thinking about the war. I am not an avid news person. I hate reading the paper, I don't own a TV and I only listen to NPR for the first twenty minutes of my day before I head out to see the kids. I listen enough to know vaguely what's going on, but not enough to get too depressed or irritated. Lately every morning begins with an update on the election, but you barely hear about the war anymore. How many people have died in this war? And I mean total...not just the Americans? When is it going to end? I got a visit from my slightly less crazy neighbor yesterday, supposedly to borrow a bobby pin, but really he just wanted to ask me about Barack, as I have some big signs up on my window. He says he's thinking about voting for Barack, but wanted to hear more about him. I did my duty and repped his stats, playing up his experience as a community organizer as well as his smarts, being a Harvard grad and a world traveler and all...but what it came down to for my neighbor was the war. He asked me if Barack would be able to end it. I know that he voted against the war and I know he would work to put together an exit strategy, but I felt like I couldn't give the right answer. I couldn't say emphatically "Yes, he's gonna end the war three days after he takes office", and that got me thinking.
Barack is just one man, but we are many. What can I be doing to make a difference? And here I am in Spokane. The convention is even bigger than I thought it would be. The hotel is fabulous. I registered and tomorrow I will be in meetings all day, but suddenly it just doesn't feel like enough. Supporting someone else who promises to change the future is easy. Being that person, making a daily commitment to do the Ghandi and be the change you want to see in the world, is more than a notion.
No comments:
Post a Comment