Wednesday, March 11, 2015

All roads used to lead to 42nd street


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.

No comments:

Post a Comment