THE AMERICAN QUESTION

                                                   AMERICAN TOLERANCE

I

n the beginning 21 st century, faith here and there is a way to live and also to die for.

Hagia Sophia,
Turkey

The best illustration of those flourishing beliefs can be watched here in America. This fact matters because it is a time when America, the western watchdog or so considered, is at war not only for oil, as many tend to believe it, but also because on both sides, people continue to convince themselves that their gods are  the  best ones and so  their values and way of life.  Henceforth fanatics   are on the rise.

Mosque

No doubt that in some remote parts of America far away from the East Coast, hard core believers doesn’t want to act open mildly   nor show comprehension and tolerance. But, in the rest of America, despite attempts to mix church and state, the vast majority accepts and shares other values different from their ones. America, as an immigrant-shaped country, continues to welcome visitors and others. That is a sort of unavoidable destiny. America for long will remain a country of opportunities and diversity.

African  Dance

Anywhere, we continue to observe this swirling diversity. Jamaica Estates used to witness at dust Muslims hurrying up to mosque for evening prayer. Inside, adults, youngsters and growing ups offer a  display of moving back  and  bowing chests while uttering guttural words sounding like prayer or  theatric  rehearsal. Not far away, Indians gather at a funeral home to pay their final respects to their loved ones.  Others sell religious articles in stores smelling perfumes. Nearby, Christian churches display size-nature statues, glittering from inside to outside, as monuments of the early Christianity.  Here and there, Guyanese, Jamaicans worship Rastafarian deities, with long hair atop their heads. Bangladesh protesters walk bare foot and chest while punching their bellies .Religiously speaking, America also is a mosaic.   

Happy Boy

Mecca

Last July, at the St James’ celebration day, many Haitians came dressed in red and blue. According to voodoo mythology, St James has an equivalent named Ogou that corresponds to the Roman war god, Mars. His colors are precisely red and blue.  In Haiti, some 75 years ago, or less, the popular religion Voodoo has been despised and almost banned. It is unthinkable for voodoo adept to enter the Catholic Church, let alone the way many worshipers were dressed this 26 July in this Brooklyn church. Now, however, the Haitian Catholic church became more open and more tolerant. At St James, we could observe how majestic was a voodoo priestess walking straight forward to the bishop, Father Guy Sansaricq to receive the host without fear of being rejected. Only in America, can be watched such a so deep   religious. It is not exaggerated to say that at this time of religion-fed terror, American tolerance is at its best as a weapon against fanatics, rejection, frustration and the likes

Chapel Sixtine, Vatican

US AIRWAYS. WHISPERING VOICES...

US AIRWAYS PLANES

The sky is borderless, but planes create the illusion they can make it anyway.

However, when fed up  with crisscrossing the huge blue, some of them long for relaxation and rest, they land in places where they can forget about runaway, signs and tower instructions. It’s no longer time to head for the sky and close by or far away destinations.  A plane has a life time on its own .Unfortunately, we do not think enough about.

US Airways magazine once want to know what travelers think of their flight, the crew team and the way they feel travelling aboard. Good question even for those who continue to be scared of wandering among clouds. Human beings are not angels, alas !

Boarding a jet is a process we begin to become familiar with. Obviously, pretty fly attendant welcomes you with smiling and prevenances. Customer feels at home and many end up in good relationships with hostesses.  Imagine. They make you comfortable, nodding to everything you want, whether your luggage or more room to stretch your legs.  If it happens you need something like a pillow or a cup of water, never mind. Name it and you get it. At least, your stress toward flying is lowering a little bit.

But, because between Miami and NY, US Airways lands for a couple of hours at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, you could know more about this airline life. At the beginning, I was leaning to believe North Carolina was home to this 80 –year old air line. For some reasons, there always is a fleet with this American flag logo painted in the big tail.  Why are there so many US Airways planes on the ground? Is North Carolina really home to the air line company?  No doubt.  Any traveler could confirm himself by glancing at the large windows while heading for his  gate.

Whatever it might be, like many others air lines, US airways has realized the miracle to recreate a king of family gathering impression at thousands feet in the sky. With a Sky Mall magazine, you can buy while running into so many earthy goods displayed through the pages. Even there, good life feeling endures. Hand crafted wood items, jewelry, fitness locations... nothing has really changed since you’ve left the earth. Did you need to travel to become so homesick about life below?

This is one of these things that matter to me. While traveling at so much speed, US Airways don’t let you feel confused about distances and locations. Travel has changed a lot in the 20th  century to become one of those banalities we owe to techniques and good service. As fly attendant feel at ease, why do you have to worry about anything? There lies the power of a smiling hostess.

So, besides a nostalgic touch at Charlotte Douglas airport attached to the American South, and Black ladies still dressed in the old fashion way, NC seems to be the very home of the US Airways air line. Again this huge fleet of planes is at a glance relaxing after having cruised so much in the sky. Nothing on earth can prevail to witness more landscapes, more sight view than a plane. Lining up along their hangar and these glass buildings that characterize airport life, US Airways planes are ready to whisper to each other what they’ve  endured while flying, the stories they’ve  heard about, the  situations they’ve gone through and finally what relaxing time mean to them, now that ungrateful  travelers are already home.

Planes also hold to their privacy..

CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS AIRPORT, NC

US AIRWAYS HEADQUARTER