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I am a people watcher. Sometimes when I am in a public setting; I like to find a bench to myself and just observe. The opportunity often presents itself when I am traveling. Airports are probably the best locations for my pastime, because of the availability time to pass and the abundance of variety of people
Many times I find myself studying those who pass, trying to determine things about them just by what they wear or how they carry themselves. What type of work do they do? Do they have children? Where are they from, or where are they going? None of these internal inquiries really mean anything, I just love to study the human condition.
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A few days ago I was at Bush International Airport in Houston, honing my hobby. Studying the faces that walked in front of me, and listening to short excerpts of conversations of those on the people movers whizzing behind me as I sat across from my gate. In a large international airport like IAH, you can hear languages from all over the world, and that was the case this day. Some I recognized, and a couple I didn’t.
The tired faces of those who had just flown hours to reach the U.S. looked down on us as they entered the next phase of entry.
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From where I was sitting I could also see the walkway coming from inbound international flights headed toward customs. The tired faces of those who had just flown hours to reach the U.S. looked down on us as they entered the next phase of entry. I am sure many were citizens returning from an overseas visit, and many were foreign nationals coming here for various reasons. I wondered how many of them might be setting foot on our soil for the very first time. Was there a sense of relief that they had finally made it? Had their trip been threatened or delayed because of the actions of our new President?
The thought that, for some, their entry into the United States may have been restricted merely to score political points was disheartening. In the past, immigration has been limited from a few countries when problems with screening or actual threats had been identified. This order appeared to be much more about fear and pumping up a base filled with an underlying prejudice. The selection of these countries based solely on their prominent religion is un-American at the very least. Especially when no immigrants, legal or otherwise, have ever been responsible for deaths from terror on American soil since 9/11. These nations also only account for about 7% of the world’s terrorist population. Meaning we have more homegrown terrorists than all of those countries combined.
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The argument is of course, “It only takes one.” While this is technically true, this philosophy would necessitate shutting down immigration and travel from anywhere. It would also demand restricting internal travel. That would equate to turning the US into a larger scale version of Cold War East Germany. With the talk of walls, and internal border patrol checkpoints already existing dozens of miles from any points of entry, we don’t seem to be far from it now.
By no means is this a new phenomenon. This country has been restricting freedom in the name of safety for decades. Fear is a powerful motivator for people to give up civil liberties without objection. While making it seem unpatriotic to object, politicians have found a fast path to seizing more power and control over us. This tactic isn’t original, just in the last twenty or so years it has become popular for administrations to use the threat of potential terror to push new restrictive agendas. Things like the Dept. of Homeland Security, the TSA, the Patriot Act, NSA spying, and now immigrations bans have been accepted willingly by an electorate that has been convinced that the key to security is more government control over our lives and movements.
As they sat down, I started to study those who entered the plane after them..
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As I sat on the plane in Houston waiting for everyone to get on, a family that I later learned came from Ethiopia boarded. The family of five sat around me; the women were dressed in traditional attire that included a sash. As they sat down, I started to study those who entered the plane after them. One man, in particular, caught my attention. An older gentleman who had to, because of the usual slow seating process, stop right beside this family. He stared at the women and their clothing. I have no idea what he was thinking, but his attention on this family was noticeable and had to be uncomfortable for them.
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As the seats filled in around us, I wondered how this flight would go. After all we were in Texas and were headed toward Phoenix. I didn’t suspect there were many Clinton supporters on the plane. How would the conversations go? With all the videos we have seen lately of altercations on airplanes over the political atmosphere we are in, would we be part of the next viral video?
A man with a patch over his eye came next, his seat was right next to the son of this family. I didn’t know what to expect and assumed that conversation would be nonexistent or cold between them. An assumption I later felt guilty about.
As we flew the man and the boy struck up a conversation. A very pleasant one, about where the young man was from, and his plans for coming to America. The gentleman was, in fact, a very seasoned world traveler who engaged this kid, and answered and asked all sorts of questions. Finding out his younger seat mate was new to the country and planned on working and going to school led to three hours of ideas, and information to help in the transition to American life.
The older gentleman, who sat between me and the long distance runner from Chicago, was a doctor who was traveling with one of the women in the family. She had a condition that needed the attention of a specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. As we all conversed, there seemed to be no walls or differences. Just people learning about each other, and showing compassion and friendship.
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The division and animosity that currently exists couldn’t keep people from the desire and the need to come here.
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As we landed in Phoenix and we all looked out the window together at the beauty of the Valley at night. I realized that no matter how divided and angry America seemed, it was still a beacon of hope for almost everyone around the world. The division and animosity that currently exists couldn’t keep people from the desire and the need to come here. It also couldn’t keep the soul of America from doing what it has always done, accepting and comforting them on their arrival.
I got off that plane with a new sense of hope for our country. I know that no matter what may happen politically, America is still at its heart a caring, loving place. Fear clouds our judgment, but at the end of it, all the helpers will always outwork the angry mobs. The shining city on the hill will always be a source of hope and draw those huddled masses yearning to breath free.
So to all those on flight UA40, thanks for refreshing my hope.
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Photo: Getty Images