For my friends in Michigan: I worked outside for much of the day, pruning the citrus trees and re-doing the irrigation basin around each. I wore my running shorts and no shirt. It was 75.
I've got just a couple more bugs to work out of the VW (pun intended), but there's one less as of mid-afternoon. THE HORN WORKS! And Beetles have such a distinctive and engaging little honk. I may have to go out in the garage for the next several days just to honk that horn.
Because of the time difference the women's final of the Australian Open was televised here on a tape delay beginning at 7 a.m. My mistake was reading the news online at 6 a.m. I still watched the first set before getting started on the day's to-do list, and because the second set went 6-0 I pretty much saw the whole match. Dominika Cibulkova played in her first grand slam final but everyone expects it won't be her last. She's only 5'2", so we're not talking power tennis, but she's a gamer. Cibulkova is from Slovakia, and they said her opponent, Li Na, (China) has four times more Twitter followers than there are people in Slovakia.
Li Na grew up in the Chinese government's tennis program and was climbing the international ratings ladder when she told them she'd no longer play within that system. They were too controlling, kept too much of her winnings, and basically made her life miserable. So she got her own coach and manager, keeps her prize money (after taxes) and manages her own schedule.
She said that from childhood until she broke away from the govt. system she never heard one compliment or positive comment, only criticisms of her game. Li has a great sense of humor, and after hearing that you wonder how.
Li Na is still proudly Chinese, and hasn't defected. I got to thinking about that, especially as the commentators this morning were describing what she went through. I concluded that she identifies with the Chinese people, not their govt. She's said she hopes her success will lead to greater opportunities for other Chinese youth to succeed in the game. Li Na distinguishes between her countrymen and their govt.
The same for Dominika Cibulkova. After the match she thanked her fellow Slovakians and said how proud she was to represent them on the podium. The Slovaks are a distinct and proud ethnic group.
And that made me think about the U.S. Because we're a melting pot, and not ethnically homogenous like China, Slovakia, or most other countries, it can be harder for us to feel that strong sense of identity with our countrymen. During the course of my day I see people who look nothing like me, and whose ancestors came from very different places and cultures than mine. Aside from the stuff that binds all humans together about all we have in common is that we both reside in the same country.
Advantage or disadvantage? Is our bond as fellow citizens of the United States weaker because there isn't also the bond of common ethnicity? Does that missing element exacerbate our differences over political issues?
We're certainly not the only country without a homogenous ethnic base. Much of western Europe now finds itself in the same situation because of the wave of immigrants over the last 10-20 years. They're facing societal unrest because the change has been so drastic and sudden. But we've been like this for almost our entire history as a nation. On balance are we better for being a melting pot nation?
I dunno. But it was something to think about while I watched a pretty decent set of tennis.
What do you think?
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