Listening can be like reading a book. Words have a lot of character. It is not easy to find authentic differences. The world seems so generic at first glance. Most places look the same. Get on a plane or sit in an airport and the people coming by are all different yet all the same.
I listened close yesterday to a group of people I sat with. One from New York, one from Baltimore, another a “New York original” now from Phoenix. Others too. All familiar with what is “still” different about this part of the Eastern Seaboard area.
Words, in some ways define the difference. You can hear it in the tone but even the pronunciation. Riva is river. Jumpa is jumper. Benda is bender (fenda benda). Or, your sister Brenda is really Brender. Others: How awe Ya, Good sense of Yuma, New Yawk. Standing on the cawna (corner)………………..
People being themselves compared to folks just fitting in. Odd subject perhaps for a day on the plane and some time with people from all over the country?
What I like about New York is the differences that are there. I remember people I have known who came through the port to get into this country originally. An old man I knew had sent a small contribution to help fund the Statue of Liberty in remembrance for years. His son continued the tradition
The Statue of Liberty has a plaque at the base that comes from a poem. “The New Colossus” by and American poet, Emma Lazarus makes the Statue seem to talk.
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore
Send these, the homeless, tempest –tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
I remember last year a congresswoman came to speak at our business. Another woman who was with the associated press flew in to be there. I stood by the reporter from New York. She seemed more interested in asking me about how I felt about immigration than she did in listening to the speech. I guess for some the "lamp is no longer by the door".
Then too I wonder who the real salt of the earth is. I have known so many people over the years from Southeastern Idaho. Some stayed, most left. I find that those folks I know and remember as I write this are indeed “Salt of the Earth”.
I listened close yesterday to a group of people I sat with. One from New York, one from Baltimore, another a “New York original” now from Phoenix. Others too. All familiar with what is “still” different about this part of the Eastern Seaboard area.
Words, in some ways define the difference. You can hear it in the tone but even the pronunciation. Riva is river. Jumpa is jumper. Benda is bender (fenda benda). Or, your sister Brenda is really Brender. Others: How awe Ya, Good sense of Yuma, New Yawk. Standing on the cawna (corner)………………..
People being themselves compared to folks just fitting in. Odd subject perhaps for a day on the plane and some time with people from all over the country?
What I like about New York is the differences that are there. I remember people I have known who came through the port to get into this country originally. An old man I knew had sent a small contribution to help fund the Statue of Liberty in remembrance for years. His son continued the tradition
The Statue of Liberty has a plaque at the base that comes from a poem. “The New Colossus” by and American poet, Emma Lazarus makes the Statue seem to talk.
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore
Send these, the homeless, tempest –tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
I remember last year a congresswoman came to speak at our business. Another woman who was with the associated press flew in to be there. I stood by the reporter from New York. She seemed more interested in asking me about how I felt about immigration than she did in listening to the speech. I guess for some the "lamp is no longer by the door".
Then too I wonder who the real salt of the earth is. I have known so many people over the years from Southeastern Idaho. Some stayed, most left. I find that those folks I know and remember as I write this are indeed “Salt of the Earth”.
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