August 16, 2008
Olympics
Some standup said recently that the reason Americans watch the Olympics is because the two things we hate most are foreigners and gym.
I’m still trying to unpack that, like if that’s the case, how come we watch? I’m not getting anywhere with my exegesis, only that I don’t especially care for watching the Olympics and have not even a lot of interest in who wins. Except how come the Chinese can spend all that money on all that razzmatazz and still let all those thousands of earthquake victims continue to suffer?
Pondering, though, I’ve a sneaking notion that our more or less chronic illiteracy and lack of curiosity as a people may have something to do with it. Xenophobia, of course, is what hatred and fear of foreigners is about. Illiteracy strings out a lot of people, places, and things about which we know nothing, which are, it be said, foreign to us, or “dead to us,” as Stephen Colbert might say.
Illiteracy and fear (and don’t forget violence) are bedfellows in general, and when the fear is incarnate in someone who’s more or less like us but at the same time isn’t, then that’s just more than we can handle. It’s too confusing. And confuse me not with my xenophobia for I am already content to let it be and occasionally stir my adrenaline.
But there’s yet gym. Gym and compulsory chapel were the two things most of my fellow laggards and I dodged in school. When sometimes I wonder why, the only reason that occurs to me is that maybe they were both too organized and demanded of me more than I was ever willing to give. But what has that got to do with my watching the Olympics?
Actually, I don’t know. Organization, I suppose. But what the comic said yet continues to intrigue me. Maybe it’ll come to me one of these days.
On the other hand, this seems as good of a place as any to report to you that one of our town’s council members has finally got enough signatures to put on the ballot the question of making English our official language. My Brit friend asked which English. I told him I didn’t know. I didn’t tell him I was surprised that considering the results of our usual elections, I didn’t know that that many people could sign their own name.
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