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Sister Mary Alice Stormtrooper

Trip planning can’t anticipate everything. An independent nation can require some picky things before giving a visa. Some places have spotty internet, relaxed law enforcement or seemingly omnipresent militarized police. Plan for phone service? Sure, but it all depends, depending on where you are.

Severe weather, of course, can’t be scheduled and the typical average isn’t a sure thing. Again, all depends. Some tiny little places can be quite up to date. Some major nations can have quite out of date practices. You won’t know what it means until you face it.

In my view, modest expectations help the traveler adjust as best they can. Really, anyone thinking of a long-term wander will, like the traditional Boy Scout and Be Prepared by hitting on and figuring out most things in advance but still on occasion be stymied. Adventure is more than climate and geography.

One thing I’ve noticed for a long time is hostility (like cheese coming in mild, pungent and sharp varieties) saved for Americans.

My earlier responses were to be apologetic. But for what exactly? Being honest, I never quite knew other than the notion that some strongly believed America and Americans were in some way the authors of and responsible for something awful. Poverty? War? Injustice? Disease? Sorrow? High costs?

I bowed my head and acted contrite for the existence of things that existed aplenty well before the U.S. came into being. So while I am rightly concerned when others have to suffer seemingly needlessly, I don’t see the route to solution.

The ancient Greeks were known to have said “Only the dead know peace.” What does that mean? Means conflict and inequality won’t go away because we condemn them. Even if all humans were removed and every subsequent child was born at the same time in the same pleasant climate with ensured access to a life-sustaining fortune we’d not be equal in potential, let alone deciding on what race or language would be acceptable as an equalizing element.

Yes, I was-am sorry that some of the nations I visited discourage education for girls or where the only good education has to be paid for privately (public education seemed to focus on games and the belief that conformity was best) or boys began escaping from poverty by scampering among traffic while hawking goods.

To fix any such ill you might have to destroy entire cultures and sets of tradition. No small thing. If I think something wrong do I have the vision to address the ill? Should all children be treated educationally the way we treat ours?

If change will happen it might by nature have to be very, very, very slow spanning generations. As forced change goes, look at the U.S. experience with Prohibition. At times we forget our episode of social reform.

Less inclined, these days, to be apologetic, I none the less Mea culpa in advance for my cavalier attitude about foreign complaint. Perhaps I’ve grown into an ugly American, but why in heaven or on earth should I or anyone think (other than driven by grossly inflated ego) I was responsible for acts I didn’t do to someone I never encountered? Why?

In my case, and maybe in yours too, I could fault members of another group for the stabbing my mother experienced. I don’t think (and neither did she) others were accountable or responsible. If anything, hanging onto a resentment would be a blot on mind and spirit. Fault can be found in almost anything, but for what purpose? Correct a flaw? Get a reward? Improve your standing? Get even?

Lots of reasons, and sometimes (here’s where the Mea culpa most applies) the flaw or fault is simple resentment coming from the complainer. Which means? Means it’s popular among many foreigners to disparage America and Americans to better establish their public credibility. No denying Trump has added a new level of America bashing while simultaneously giving fresh opportunity for vigorous reply. The knocking of America often stems from old resentments such as is (and has been for centuries) aimed at any success. Being powerful makes for a good target.

Nothing new. We’re a target of attack because we exist, same as the French Revolution targeted church and nobility or later reformers targeted wealth, class or religion as the inherited flaws that needed to be taken down. Some targets over the years. Nobles and clergy. Roundheads and Cavaliers. Wealth and owners. Commies and Reds. Billionaires and Jews. This went on before America existed and will continue after we’re gone. So to some extent a Yank can shrug off the sneers and loud slurs coming from jealousy so green with resentment it seeks to satisfy itself with bile. Yuck.

But then again, can be fun being nice to the disparagers. When the U.S. or its president is put to scorn I sometimes smile broadly and give my sincerest (fake good as real) appreciation in a voluble “Thank You!” The reaction of detractors to praise from the enemy is itself entertaining. They might be confused, surprised or overly eager to pursue perceived victory. The latter is the most rewarding response for the opportunity it allows, what beats multi layered irony? The real McCoy doesn’t present itself that often, so when it does. Go with it. A brassy critic of the U.S. earns my hearty praise. “I admire your government for the impressive alacrity with which it surrendered without need of taking a bold move. We agree on the dangers of a strong leader. Might we not say the same of weak leadership?”

That’s for you to deal with. Judgment is, after all, only as good as its result. We might wish for a perfect world, but in reality isn’t that the same as wanting everyone to live in the same climate and have the same language and goals? Differences can be chaotic and painful. But what choice? Geese flying over each spring and fall are not signs of life being easy or fair or kind. Struggle builds strength. Surrender does not. Shoot me, or in this case throw me overboard, if ever I get too pumped up with fluff. I may not be the friendliest or most jovial of folk, but overselling is something I try to avoid, as with plague.

I wonder. Was it the stern words of a teaching nun, one of many Sister Mary Alice Stormtroopers who pulled my ear, made a lasting impression saying “Empty barrels make the most noise.”

For some reason (who knows) I didn’t want to be an empty barrel, not, I must admit, that I knew in any detail what a barrel was. Barrels were not everyday items even in my day.

But somehow I knew and to this day stand comfortably on the thought that if I am an empty barrel I should try not to show it.