All roads used to lead to 42nd street. Now they
lead to Anytown in Texas. And from there, it’s anyone’s guess where you’ll end
up. From the time I made the move from my home in Manhattan many years ago, I’ve been stopping
by, coming through, or escaping the Lone Star state, the latest escape inspired
by a wintry blast that swept through huge parts of Texas, forcing school and
other business closings. And here I wait, in a coffee shop that’s one of the
more civilized places in the No Star state – Nuevo Leon, Mexico, a region close
to the US border that was once a prominent battleground in the fight against
what might be called US encroachment, American meddling or any flavor of Western
imperialism. I’m waiting for the rain to ease, or maybe that’s the latest
excuse for sitting in a café, tethered to American pop culture and politics,
courtesy of Western engineered internet access. Or maybe it was the British who
built the system. Hard to credit the Americans with anything good these days.
The coffee’s good, I’m sure they’d admit. Or maybe everyone is here for the
free internet access too. Free is good, even though I’ve learned – hang on for
1 of my hundreds of favored clichés – freedom isn’t free.
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