Entr'acte
I've been taken to task, back-channel, for my "surprising lack of cultural openness".
You know who's full of romantic notions of cultural wonderment, my friend? People who haven't really traveled much. (While we're on the topic, wanna know how quickly most cultural enrapturement can be boiled down to some version of "the noble savage"?)
I'm not now, nor have ever been (ok, maybe once was) a cultural relativist. I believe firmly and for all people that deodorant is good, women should be treated as equal human beings, and fast and affordable public transit should connect airports to city centers. In fact, those things together can really be taken as a benchmark for the state of civilization of any particular region.
Don't believe me? Try it. NYC vs. Portland, for example. A priori, our intuition is that NYC scores higher on the civilization index, right? But how can that be, when Portland has this gorgeous light rail system that whisks you from the terminal to your doorstep, for a fraction of the JFK cabfare? Solution: look to the magnitude of the difference in per capita deodorant use.
You know who's full of romantic notions of cultural wonderment, my friend? People who haven't really traveled much. (While we're on the topic, wanna know how quickly most cultural enrapturement can be boiled down to some version of "the noble savage"?)
I'm not now, nor have ever been (ok, maybe once was) a cultural relativist. I believe firmly and for all people that deodorant is good, women should be treated as equal human beings, and fast and affordable public transit should connect airports to city centers. In fact, those things together can really be taken as a benchmark for the state of civilization of any particular region.
Don't believe me? Try it. NYC vs. Portland, for example. A priori, our intuition is that NYC scores higher on the civilization index, right? But how can that be, when Portland has this gorgeous light rail system that whisks you from the terminal to your doorstep, for a fraction of the JFK cabfare? Solution: look to the magnitude of the difference in per capita deodorant use.
1 Comments:
-
Anonymous said...
-
- 11:14 AM
Post a CommentOK, so it ain't Tri-Met, but the AirTrain to the subway at either Jamaica or (the "A" train stop not too far inland from the Rockaways) gets you anywhere in NYC that the subway goes. Yes, it's $7 ($5 for the AirTrain, and $2 for the subway), and, yes, you have to negotiate escalators and exit gates far too often, but you really don't have to take a cab from JFK any more.
Loved the mental image of the three-wheeled truck in heat and presenting itself.
Also loved the desk-clerk interaction. When D and I were leaving Sri Lanka, I was accosted by an otherwise meek-looking young woman who wanted me to complete a survey. I was all too happy to take the survey and complete it myself (rather than verbalize that we'd spent our last four nights at a luxury hotel whose daily rate was equivalent to a couple months' wages for the typical Sri Lankan). She insisted on asking me every question aloud, moving on when she decided that she had taken enough information, and then getting upset with me when there were inconsistencies in my answers. I tried to point this out to her (silly me), whereupon her eyes glazed over and she handed me the thank-you parcel of a tea bag and a few touristy postcards.
<< Home