Today is Wednesday, the day after the terrorist attack on America and my reality reeks with the mundane. I have consumers calling the office but, for the most part, the lines are dead in this call center and I'm glad. It means that something besides creature comforts and individual destiny has preoccupied this usually self-serving, group of consumers.
I used to joke to Mom years ago; "Let me know if anyone has taken over and I'm supposed to speak Russian, will you?" I had no feelings one way or the other about politics. I voted, but abhorred the arguments I witnessed between my father and own godfather. Politics evoked too many emotions and I needed my strength just to get through the week running a mom and pop repair shop. So, Mom would clue me in about the political landscape, just as she carried my pictures to church each Sunday; Mom was watching over my political freedom as well as my soul's destiny in this life and beyond.
I can hear from the warehouse; one of our Asian nationals whose comprehension of English is normally impeccable....he's demanding an explanation for why his package didn't ship out yesterday. What's not to comprehend? Then I remind myself: he is only here on a work Visa. He is not here to seek the American Dream or way of life and opportunity. He doesn't have to because the same work permit allows him to be an opportunist without any further commitment on his part. This is the new American workplace: a group of hard working individuals with no common culture or work ethic besides "making money". There is no allegiance to any one country, only the ideology of global commerce. The new millennium demands that we think globally, come Hell or high water; or terrorism. Praise the Lord and pass the Prozac.
Clarity works its way into my day's awakening. A consumer faxes his proof of purchase and scrawled among the typed copy is the very simple message, God Bless America. And I begin to believe there is hope...maybe not all American consumers are brain-dead after all.
About the Author
Annette Brochier Johnson (the Frog Haven Lady) is a grass roots gal from California, now living in Missouri. She shares intelligent, slightly irreverent essays about family life, American traditions, and everyday observations.