Talk Like An Egyptian

pic borrowed from the web

 

In the American Midwest tree branches are bare. Brown leaves litter streets and sidewalks, frost fogs windows. Crisp blades of frozen grass stand at attention. Breath puffs into the chilly air like clouds.

 

winter in the American Midwest

 

We start out on the couch, but end up cross-legged on the soft, carpeted floor. Books and notebooks whirlpool around us. "Do you want tea or coffee?" she says.

 

No, thank you, I say.

 

She shrugs. Okay.

 

A 6-foot wide tapestry from Kuwait adds a bright bit of color to the cozy earth tone space. There's a dining room table, piles of books. A cheerful, functional kitchen. A bathroom with a spray nozzle built into the toilet seat. With a dial to select level of water pressure and a button to initiate stream.

 

example of portable bidet

pic borrowed from the web

 

We laugh about it, this bit of Middle Eastern preference tucked into America's heartland. "It's cool and refreshing," she agrees. Her smile is bright. "But then you're wet."

 

She has a Ph.D. in law and taught university before moving from the Middle East to Kansas. Where she takes the kids to school, meets up with friends at Starbucks, cleans house, cooks dinner. She's fun, funny, comfortable and smart and she wears a colorful, friendly hijab. She's my colloquial Egyptian Arabic tutor.

 

harakat! I say. In written Arabic the word means movement and refers to those little dots and dashes that appear above and below the looping Arabic letters. In colloquial Qatari dialect it's how a teen might say cool! or awesome!

 

She laughs. "In Egyptian dialect you could say gamda aowee." Which translates to rigid a lot.

 

da soura gamda aowee

not rigid in Cairo, 1974

 

All Arabs read and write using the same letters. Written Arabic has grammar rules, tenses, form, structure and is called fusha (fooS-Ha). It is the language of the Koran, and considered the foundation from which all Arabic dialect is derived.

 

Perhaps you, too, can read and write Arabic. Perhaps there is opportunity to use what you've learned on the street and in alleyways. Where educated Arabs recognize the high form of their language, chuckle at your stilted speech and respond slowly and carefully (because you're obviously not a native speaker). Perhaps communication happens.

 

But not cultural appreciation, personal comprehension, empathy.

 

shiny flask

 

Empathy is what happens in Qatar's silver and mirror lined window-less majlis spaces far from the English speaking streets. Where hidden women insist, just as it was in Egypt 30 years ago, a guest must eat three sugary dates as is stated in the Koran. To be a good guest here one must sip both tea and coffee, nibble cheesy bread and cake. Language flows fast, like the women who sit close, hover and fuss. It seems there are rules for everything from greeting one another to seating assignments, touching and laughing.

 

As in fusha, guttural 'ein is pronounced deep in the throat and "khaaf" spits like a hissing cat. But "jeem," a letter which says its name in fusha, is pronounced "ya" and the letter "qaaf" sounds like "g" as in "gate." Here "ee" means "yes" and "abee" means "I want."

 

Qatar's dialect, like its society, attempts to remain close to Koranic fusha. Both are ordered, structured. And changing.

 

Egyptian children's stage show

performed at Doha's souk waqif, 2012

 

Egyptian dialect, on the other hand, is loose, easy, indulgent, fun. Words flow, structure transforms to suit the moment, sound bits mix, muddle and sing. Egyptian dialect is the language of colloquial Arabic tv, music, books. Cartoons, comic books, children's programming is often produced using Egyptian dialect too. In Egypt, unlike Qatar, people speak their own language in the shops, markets, businesses and on the street.

 

Here, "ah" or a close lipped "mmm" translates to "yes." It's perfectly polite to add "ya" to the front of a person's name in greeting and everyone is "habibi/habibti" (my sweet one). In Egyptian dialect, "jeem" is expressed as "g" in "gate" while "qaaf" is eliminated altogether. There are words like "bass," "kidda," and "mish" which pepper speech like "yeah" and "uh huh" in English and "aiza" means "I want."

 

Sure, there are rules and structure, but rules are meant to be broken, right? The language, like the people, is vibrant, relaxed, comfortable, forgiving.

 

And changing. Like Egyptian society, which has experienced much turmoil in recent years - I am told there is a movement in Egypt to return the language of the street…to fusha.

 

returning soon to Cairo?

Why I'm Not Posting a Blog Today (Yeah, Again)

Summer 2014

 

I should tell you about my Egypt-themed story published in October 2014's Highlight's for Children. Or meeting with a lovely (ma sha' allah) Qatari woman and her female relatives in a gold, silver and mirror lined majlis as part of the American Women's Association/Qatari Women's Association "language buddies" program. Learning conversational Arabic in Kansas City. Or what it's like to live in the heart of the Middle East during a crisis period.

 

Katie and Krissy snuggle

Summer 2014

 

I could write about Qatar's falcons and how these birds get their own business class airplane seats. Or about shopping for groceries in a place that doesn't produce its own produce. Or what it's like to sit in one airplane for 16 3/4 hours, nonstop. And why some expat women in the Middle East take up drinking.

 

Or perhaps:

 

Desert Rose Hunting

When Humidity Set Off My Fire Alarm

Sounds of Doha (Traffic Redux)

Why I am not Muslim

 

my babies
omg I love them

 

Sigh. Yeah, I know. I should write a blog today.

 

Killian
adorbs

 

Krissy

tutu perfect

 

But doggone. I'm 16 3/4 hours from home - and five of the most beautiful people ever.

 

these faces

 

Seriously. Wouldn't you be distracted too?

Pondering the Positives

 

In Missouri, USA, summer thunder rolls in like a drum crescendo with wind that twists trees and whips grass, flowers, earth into a festival of scents. Then it rumbles away leaving a glorious, cloudless blue sky framed by lush multihued green and clean, crisp, 70Fs (20Cs), Fall-sweet air. Perfect for jogging, mowing, barbecuing, jumping into raked mountains of crunchy leaves, hay rides, apple picking, evenings roasting marshmallows over a patio fire pit.

 

I watch the light show from my kitchen window wrapped in a cozy blanket, plane ticket in my hand, a 25-hour (minimum) journey in my future.

 

(Excepting the way-cute hubby) these are the toughest moments for reflecting upon the positives of another long trip over land and sea. I begged help from my support network of seasoned, experienced, expat travelers.

"What's your favorite thing about Doha?" I asked.

This is what they said (edited for list-making):

sand dune bashing


Inland Sea camping


the souq


unexpected friendships


worldly conversations


exploring new interests


mangroves


Doha is a great travel hub


you can't take "weekend/long weekend" trips to random places in the world from the States like you can here


an eclectic group of friends from all over the world


free world class level sporting events


the beach on a regular basis


variety of foods


friends from afar: England, Scotland, Australia, South Africa, Lebanon, Spain, and Germany to name a few


winter in Doha, bringing cooler temps and the chance to be outside


travel opportunities


Sheikh Faisal Museum


understanding what really is the "Middle East" and having a new found respect for this part of the world - we are so accustomed to what we see on TV in the US that reality is quite a bit different than the news' sometimes "skewed" vision of the Middle East

BMD Ladies and friends gather for "high tea"
to celebrate Mary Anne's birthday
February 2014, Doha

Thank you, BMD Ladies Abroad, Dawn, Bridget, Samantha, Mary Anne!

Expat Wife Life: Missing Who's Missing

summer 2014: laughter, love,

a house full of beautiful babies

 

To expats, missing is a living, breathing, moist and fresh word with long, sticky fingers. It links head to heart, toddling the gray matter so the heart is always thinking. Before each trip, whether traveling to or fro, we haul missing out, rub it off and try not to watch as the object of missing's affections changes.

No matter where we are, expats are always missing someone. 

Summer 2014 it's been this guy:

 

Bob at the Singing Dunes

 

It helps to look forward to the next adventure. For example, also missing is the singing dunes, souk, the folks at Fanar, Arabic. West Bank vistas from Islamic Museum Park, a jog around the Corniche, the-latest-unique-thing-on-display at the Alriwaq exhibit hall, shopping; the adventure that is driving in Doha.

 

Missing is the Call to Prayer that circles the city five times a day, a reminder via regularly spaced mosques to pause in the day's busy-ness to recognize, thank and praise God. Each invitation begins at a slightly different moment - the result is a rich mix of spiritually uplifting dissonance that fills one's senses like just baked bread.

 

minaret, Grand Mosque

West Bay in background

 

I like it.

 

I miss monthly get-togethers with the fabulous Burns & McDonnell ladies and babies, dark early morning skies and the bright upside down moon. Beach sun (although I no longer bask), steamy sand, long sleeved slogs around the Pearl's bay in 115F temps followed by a dip in the resort pool. A clean apartment every Thursday, Fridays with my guy, camp outs at the Inland Sea, treks into the desert.

 

In Doha, celebrity events are comparatively inexpensive (and free). World class tennis, soccer, film and art festivals are accessible. Comedian Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias, Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens), and Maz Jobrani have headlined Doha in the last 3 years. There's Mr. Q, Arabic class, the fabulous people at Weill Cornell Medical Center, halloumi cheese at Zaatar w Zeit, family dinner at Turkey Central, Nabil and the Sheikh's museum.

 

 

Dubai's beaches, golf courses, and sites like the Burj Khalifa are an inexpensive 45 minute flight away. It's a quick hop to weekend (or longer) adventures in Muscat, London, Athens, Barcelona, Dublin, Rome, Amsterdam too.

 

Just as life in Doha isn't all sand, grit and empty-shelves-at-the-Carrefour, a stint stateside isn't all perfection. There are weeds, bugs, dirty laundry, trash to take out, cars and dryers that break down, a crowd of babies in the bathroom, high gas prices, a towering, government owned, dead tree in the yard next door.

 

None of which eases this next - rapidly approaching - round of missing.

 

Kansas City Northern Railroad Co.
riding a kid-sized train with three of my babies

I'll be missing them soon

East to Midwest Across America

An American journalist is decapitated in Syria, Israel and Palestine bomb one another and racial tension explodes into gunfire in Ferguson, Missouri. Women aren't allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia and prejudice is a way of life in Qatar.

 

But when smoke bursts from Katie's car outside the Walgreens in Greenville, North Carolina, the world's problems seem very far away.

 

all her worldly possessions trunk to lid

the most important are two thin sheets of paper that say:

"Master's Degree" and "Registered Dietitian"

(car for sale soon)

 

Something pops and thick brown fluid gushes onto the tarry road. Before we're free of the steaming vehicle, a woman in a black Ford Explorer headed the opposite direction stops. She leaves her own car in the street as I raise Katie's hood. "Yo' radiatah is done, see raht thayah?" She removes the cigarette dangling between her teeth, and uses it to point. "Ya'll goan in the Auto Zone and see they kin hep."

 

In the Auto Zone, employees with names embroidered into red collared shirts leap into action. Sherwood* proclaims a broken heater hose the culprit as he single handedly pushes Katie's car out of traffic. Sue* calls auto repair shops. The one her sister works at is busy but we "ought to call over to Elronda at the Meineke."

 

No fewer than seven cars and trucks stop as we wait for AAA on a curb near a field. "Ya'll need help? What's the trouble? Ah noticed you, thought ah'd see you're okay."

 

waiting for AAA in bucolic North Carolina

 

In America's east, country towns and metropolitan cities are linked by tree covered mountains, glorious azure skies and acres of rolling, green fields. There are good friends…

 

three years together ends

a lifetime of friendship ahead

 

…Washington, DC with its waterfront, monuments and a beautiful woman who offers weary friends elegant hospitality and soft, pillowed beds.

 

with wonderful Mary Ann

lifetime of friendship continues

 

There is Angel Gap, North Carolina with log cabin shops under pines so tall that clouds drift in and out of branches. Populations come in both black and white in nearly equal proportions, say "dang, ya'all" and "ah" instead of "I." There are slow moving tractors, freeways, country roads…

 

 

…villages named for the scenery and businesses christened for people: Shady Spring, Skitter Creek, Laura's Restaurant, Peter's Orchard and Fruit Stand. There is summer rain, country music, the Seneca Nation and a 20-ish foot tall, thousand pound Indian Statue.

 

The Post Journal, Jamestown, NY

 

Fog skitters across dewy highways and the air smells of intermittent rain, sunshine and hay. Road signs announce "Beef and Ice Cream," "When You Die You Will Meet God," "Buckle Up - Next Million Miles." Tiny towns seem to have more churches than people; cows, goats and chickens frolic in front yards.

 

So. Much. Green.

 

every picture I take looks like this

 

and this

 

Everywhere, all across the country, billboards feature Starbucks, Walmart, Taco Bell, McDonald's, Burger King and Cracker Barrel's pinto beans and corn bread.

 

The mountains of North Carolina and the Virginias ease into Kentucky, where horses graze in fields crisscrossed by rail fences; settle into the tree lined hills of Illinois and Missouri - until finally the world flattens and becomes Kansas.

 

not Kansas

 

But first Katie's car would need a new radiator, thermostat, battery and Sherwood's hoses.

 

As the good natured folks at Meineke's manage Katie's car repair (lifetime warranty!), we wander streets without side or crosswalks, eat lunch at a gas station and tour a Sam's Club.

 

Later, a mother and her four children join us in the Meineke waiting area. "Kin ah have a quarter?" says Little Boy, palm raised.

 

"It's mah birthday next week," says Little Girl. "Ah'll be seven." She faces me, but nods at Katie. "Ah you her mommy?"

 

I'm her mommy

 

It may or may not be true that Americans are fast food fat and geographically illiterate. Perhaps our high school graduates can't pick out Azerbaijan on a map, outline the history of Syria or do simple math - and, in contrast to Qatar's children, most of us *only* speak one language. We have social, economic and employment issues like every other country across the globe.

 

But where pines march up mountains into blue skies and everyday folks sip coffee while waiting for buses on grassy streets; here, deep at its heart - I think America is pretty dang great.

 

As her mother and four older brothers watch, Little Girl opens her arms wide and wraps us up. First she hugs Katie, then me.

 

 

*true story, real names

Is Qatar Safe?

 

The second most common question we're asked (after Qatar? Where's that?):

 

Is it safe?

 

After all, battle lights from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan sparkle over Qatar like a halo. The Taliban Five are housed here, those guys the US President controversially freed in exchange for a single American Marine. The five live in our resort "neighborhood," purportedly housed in a guarded, castle-like compound at The Pearl.

 

no matter your size, there's a thobe for you

display at The Pearl

 

The single land route out of Qatar is through Saudi Arabia. Permission to make the trip requires months of paperwork and is usually only given to drive straight through. A woman must be accompanied by her mahram and covered head to toe, even in the car.

 

There is the questionable treatment of migrant workers, Matthew and Grace Hwang, the unending parade of waste water trucks that disappear into the desert and return stocked with "potable liquid."

 

Plus, they wear thobes and abayas in Qatar, live behind forbidding ten foot walls, speak Arabic. And they're Muslim!

 

 

While it's true that there are cultural and ideological differences that sometimes cause conflict, if you read my blog, you already know that Islam is a peaceful religion. And Qataris are, in a quiet, non attention seeking way - Peacemakers.

 

the Peace and Love Guy dances on his truck

in front of the Amiri Diwan

 

In Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Syria and with the Taliban (who, it's said, have offices in Doha) Qatari leadership quietly broker discussions to further peaceful resolutions to end the cycles of violence. In taking the Taliban Five off the road, after the US President negotiated their release, Qatar assures the men's physical non-involvement in conflict. As the first Middle Eastern country to host the World Cup (in 2022, in case you've been living under a rock), they're breaking new ground in communication and understanding.

 

Qatar has opened its doors to an expat majority who don't dress, look, eat, play, worship - and sometimes don't even respect - their culture, religion and way of life. Yet, before the roads, water lines and electrical networks had traversed the peninsula, there was McDonalds, Dairy Queen, Chili's and TGI Friday's. A new modern mall goes in, it seems, every week.

 

There are Christian churches in Doha. And, even though it's haraam in Islam there is a liquor store that sells pork.

 

 

Sure, we feel welcome. But do we feel safe? We respect the culture, follow the rules, keep a low profile. And, yes, we feel safe.

 

giant pitcher on the Corniche

hospitality symbol

 

More safe than I feel right now, in fact, sleeping in my bed in America under a US government owned, 40 foot tall, 12 foot diameter dead tree. Paperwork, photos and bids have long been submitted requesting removal of the tree. Meanwhile, its 20 foot partner recently fell, taking out a neighbor's back fence.

 

 

Please Mister President, cut down your tree so that I might return to the Middle East where I will feel safe.

Minding My P's and Q's

beautiful, energetic, my mama

 

She's dynamite in white: pants, shirt, shoes, socks. Even her mop of curly hair is iced in frosty hues.

 

Multi lingual army brat, homecoming queen, degreed. She's a busy professional who operates her own business, jogs, lifts weights, writes. A stranger once stopped her on the street to rave over her multi colored aura but you don't have to read it to see it: energy shoots from her eyes, radiates off her skin, envelopes friends and others. She's a light in the darkness, a campfire on a cold night, a rocket soaring through the sky.

 

"We travelled from California to Missouri and all along the way people offered me their seat," she laments. "As if I were old."

 

I suggest the deference wasn't due to incorrectly assessed infirmity but because she's a woman, professional, of a certain age and worthy of respect. She rolls her eyes.

 

"Did you take the seat?" I ask.

 

She nods, smiles. " Yes, of course."

 

respect your elders, youngun

(Katie and her grandpapa)

 

My mama taught me this: say please and thank you, excuse me, yes, ma'am, no, sir. Don't play your music too loud, do offer your seat, flush. These universal niceties are one's P's and Q's and apply no matter where you are in the world…plus a few more:

 

In Qatar

 

Adherence to the cultural expectation of modesty is considered good manners and respectful too. Plus, when supping from a communal dish one should use the three fingers on the right hand, eat from the area nearest you, don't blow on your food. Hold the door and stand so that others enter first, to your right. An older-than-you female relative or stranger is called "aunt" or her kunya is used to address her. Adult women refer to young girls as "Mahmah" to bestow a kind of pre-respect. Deference is shown to a man with the title "uncle."

 

But, wait, there's more:

 

"…I go to the ground floor of our house and my children rush to kiss my head…I start by greeting 'Al-Salam Alaikum wa Rahmat Allah wa Barakatuh', and try to find my mother. I kiss her on the head, then do the same for my father. My siblings and nieces/nephews would be queuing to kiss my head…"

Osama Al Assiry describes a typical Family Friday in Qatar

 

That's right, older family members - and senior strangers within the culture - receive kisses to the top of heads from younger others. It's respectful, deferential and expected.

 

Doha billboard

be respectful: don't spit!

 

In Philippines

 

Unofficially Filipinos comprise the second largest expat population in Qatar (after Indians). They are nannies and maids, clerks, administrative assistants, receptionists, drivers, mechanics, nurses, doctors and more.

 

"If Filipinos left Qatar, everything would come to a screeching halt."

- commonly heard (in country)

 

Some young Filipina mothers don't see their children for years as adults often leave home to provide for the family. Most come to Qatar alone, leaving children behind with grandma. It's no surprise that Filipino families are very close, with a strong, culturally imbued respect for elders.

 

"…conservative families expect children to practice the kissing of hands or placing their parents or elder family members' hand to their foreheads with the words 'mano po'…"

- philippinecountry.com

 

Remember to say please and thank you and press the back of auntie's hand to your forehead.

 

In America

 

 

Lush groves, rattling trucks and hog sized motorcycles with riders in camo doo-rags. Someone's mama drives a rusted Buick which passes an Amish buggy on a highway flanked by fields of corn, clover and Queen Anne's lace. Where just-folks wave to strangers, the American flag unfurls over the quik mart and the downtown McDonalds does a brisk noon business.

 

The highway between Springfield and Kansas City: the heart of America's heartland.

 

I pull into an empty parking space, step across the busy drive-through lane. In front of me swagger two teenage boys in CAT caps, baggy jeans, black tee shirts and scuffed, untied tennis shoes.

 

One boy pauses at the door. He holds it and stands so I might enter first, to his right. "After you, ma'am."

 

My heart swells with pride for his mama.

 

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T find out what it means to me…"

-Aretha Franklin, "Respect"

Pork, Beer and Independence: 5 Joys, 5 Hardships

 

The US may be out of the World Cup in Brazil but it's still red, white and blue in the United States. It's Independence Day - when twenty somethings lounge on party pontoons at the lake as fireworks explode in the sky. Children run in circles in the middle of the street with sparkle sticks clenched in fat little fingers. Moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles tip a cup from lawn chairs on driveways before garages turned into neighborhood party rooms. Families hold hands and lower heads in prayerful thanksgiving over tables loaded with potato salad, hot dogs, chips, dip, 5 bean casserole and coolers full of red punch and Bud Light.

 

Everyone, everywhere, it seems, with shoulders and knees bared, eating pork, drinking wine, celebrating God and freedom in his or her own way.

 

Life in America is more than MTV, People of Walmart and the ability to buy pork and alcohol in any local grocery store wearing a tank top and Nike shorts. Here are five more things a Middle Eastern expat might find fulfilling about a stint stateside:

 

 

1. Benadryl, ice, (fresh) Cheezits and Twizzlers (sorry, Bob) available for purchase at any local grocery store or convenience mart.

 

2. The ability to wash and dry multiple loads of laundry in less time than it takes to walk barefoot across the Sahara backwards carrying loads of soggy misshapen shirts and pants that will never dry no matter how long the machine cycles or the wet air blows.

 

small person, warm rain, great joy

 

3. A dance in the rain - in the middle of the street, at the park, downtown, or pretty much anywhere you want.

 

4. To hug, kiss, hold hands with same or opposite sex friends and loved ones while standing on a stage at a busy mall at noon (or wherever).

 

nope nope nope

 

5. Surf the internet without once getting "this site is blocked by your country" or "this program isn't licensed for viewing in your location."

 

 

Life in America isn't all bare skin, pulled pork, internet excess and champagne. Here are five hardships stateside Middle Eastern expats endure:

 

1. The necessity to open your own doors.

 

2. Entrance fees at museums, exhibits, fairs, the zoo.

 

3. Scrubbing out the bathroom p-trap using a kitchen knife and (ugh) fingers.

 

4. Forget full service gas stations with prices less than $1.00; you gotta pay in advance (to prove you can afford it?) and pump your own gas.

 

5. You must get out of your car, enter the food court or other eatery, collect your own tray and - seriously! - bus your own table.

 

smiling at his daddy, snuggled up to me

 

Babies and grandbabies, the zoo, happy hour, Walmart, chugging water in public at the height of Ramadan. It seems that life in America is perfect. But the Middle East has something the US doesn't: this hard working guy with his can-do attitude, cute dimples and gorgeous shiny hair.

 

Bob, continuing the adventure: year three

My Life in America: Looking at People

 

"Traffic is really backed up this morning adding 5 minutes to your drive."

-Radio station KFKF on morning rush hour traffic in Kansas City, Missouri, USA

 

The Walmart cashier smiled. "What's your favorite thing about being home?" he said.

 

I considered: the open road - where four cars at a stop light is a traffic jam and a five minute delay is an inconvenience…that I can trek to Walmart and home again in under 15 minutes…blue skies…clouds…rain…green…cars that merge, drivers who don't block intersections…worms in black earth under a mountain of wild daylilies…jogging in the street wearing shorts…different nationalities, races, religions, ideological outlooks living, working, existing side by side in (relative) harmony…

 

these beautiful people:

 

 

and that - in my little corner of the world, at least- we look at each other.

 

Gape, gaze, goggle, peep, scrutinize, wonder, glance. We consider one another by appearance, body type and posture. We evaluate strangers based on dress and assess people using external information: he's a businessman in a suit, she's a mom in sweats, there's a sullen teenager hunkered over her phone and that harried homemaker wearing dirty shorts and scrubby tank ran out of mulch while working in the garden.

 

We regard, weigh, contemplate, examine and review. Is his hair color natural? Cute dress. Bratty kid. Muffin top. Sweet couple.

 

daylilies

 

Tall, short, fat, thin, rich, poor? There's sinful judgment in shallow appraisal: he's a hard worker, slacker, health freak. She's alcoholic, overeater, underachiever, mogul, homeless, confident, shy, chic, uncouth. Lookit those Baptists with crosses and Catholics dangling rearview mirror prayer beads. There are Muslims in hijab, Amish in long skirt with tennis shoes and whatever religion wears those little white caps over long, gray beards…

 

Some cultures go to great lengths to discourage looking as it can harvest misconceptions, inaccuracies and wrong impressions.

 

not looking in Doha

 

When nourished with a smile and a greeting, however, looking breeds connection.

 

What are you planting? Where do you work? What kind of phone do you have? Where do you get your hair done? Do you eat here often? How old are your kids? Ever been to a Royals game?

 

In Missouri we smile and say "hello" to joggers on the street. We wave at neighbors out of windows accessible to sidewalks dotted with people. We chat with strangers at Quik Trip, exchange business cards with folks we don't know, say "Pretty Day, don'cha think?" and "How about those Chiefs!" and "Do you know where the laundry soap is?"

 

university prof talks to strangers

 

Sure, life's not perfect, not even in America's heartland. There's crime. Inflation, unemployment, divorce, haves and have nots, Obamacare. But there's comfort in a community that connects with a glance and a grin.

 

I see you

 

The cashier smiled. "Nice to meet you, have a nice day," he said.

 

I shifted the bag of mulch over my scrubby tank and dirty shorts, stepped into the blue sky day and admired the clouds.

 

purty