On The Road Again

So far this year, I have driven to  Western Massachusetts,  Maine, Cape Cod, NYC, Maryland, Virgina, DC, North Carolina, Ohio, several places in northern NY state, and Michigan.  The thing that I enjoy about car travel is just heading out, and stopping along the way for meals, stopping to stay at motels, hotels, B&B's, and with family and friends. Everywhere I go I get into conversations with strangers, and with the exception of the toothless, wacky guy I met on the roof of a lakeside apartment building in Lakewood, Ohio, (who probably was quite harmless, but after 25 minutes I did decide to head off to a pressing engagement) I almost always find that people are very friendly and quite willing to engage in conversation.

For some, the travel experience involves flying over large stretches of America, and then staying in an expensive resort hotel full of people who are just like them - similar background, similar socio-economic and education levels, similar tastes, etc.  But I like the world of the hoi polloi.  Unpredictable and more entertaining.

As I get older, I have had to moderate some of my travel adventures - I no longer have the "cast-iron" stomach that used to permit me to eat almost any local concoction as I wandered through the outposts of regional cuisine. And I find that more than one night on a flimsy mattress can produce unwelcome twinges of back pain. But, even making some modifications to my travel plans still leaves me plenty of opportunity to meet and greet some memorable people.

So here is my totally unofficial, unscientific report on the staus of the American people. These are my impressions.

Despite the fact that the various media would have us believe that Americans are fearful, angry and unhappy, I have found that people, just "average" people, seem to be coping pretty well things, even though they may not have a lot. People are making the best of what life has flung their way, and just as always, are happy to sit down talk to you about it.

Well, to tell the truth I did have one run-in with a fearful, yet determined woman in the office of the building in which my brother has an apartment in Eastlake, OH. Because I could not get myself successfully "buzzed in" through their security system, she asked many questions about who I was and why I wanted to get into the building. She said she had to be careful - what if I was not who I said I was?  (Actually, I have had existential days like that - what if I am not who I think I am?)  But that is too deep for this blog. My brother was, at last, able to assure her that he was expecting a short sister, blue-eyed, grey-haired, bearing Massachusetts identification, and to let her in.

People like to talk about the town they live in, even if it has seen better days, and they always tell you local history, their personal experiences, and recommend places for you to check out. They ask about where I live, and we talk about the differences and similarities of our lives. People are getting by. There is road construction everywhere, and building construction almost everywhere. So things are looking up in a great variety of locations.

One new proliferating building type - casinos! States everywhere have decided that money from gaming is the way to fund the communal needs of its citizens. I don't know if I am yet entirely comfortable relying on the willingness of Joe Averageguy to consistantly plunk down his money at the gaming tables so that the states can meet their obligations. But then, I was not entirely comfortable with Jamie Dimon plunking down my money on bets either, and look how that turned out.

Oh, and the guy on the roof in Lakewood?  That was a bonanza.  He was telling me about the days of rum running in the 1920's and '30's, from Ontario, Canada to Detroit and Cleveland, and even Lakewood. Stories filled with crime bosses, underground tunnels, stolen whiskey, and even a Whiskey Island, booze looted by police and firemen. Who knew I'd meet an Ohio history buff on the roof? A guy who said he'd been a ward of the state since he was 4-years-old. A guy who said Nixon was the best President the country had ever had. 

Great conversations are everywhere if you travel slowly and seek out locals. Respect their experence, ideas and opinions. They all have a story to tell. And it beats what's on TV by a long shot.