From the People Are Strange department

My Internet went out for a few hours this morning. The sudden loss left me contemplating the last article I read online before I was cut off from all traces of civilization.

Although actually, if the article I read in any way represented normal civilization, we’re better off without it.

No, the article wasn’t about war or degredation. It wasn’t about #metooing or the latest pecksniffian effort to cut off somebody else’s free speech. Not about politics, brutality, or corruption (but I repeat myself). In fact, it was meant to be a feelgood story.

You may have heard of the heartwarmingly quirky Broadway musical Come From Away. Big hit. Tony winner. It’s about that September day in 2001 when all planes were grounded. Thirty-eight passenger airliners were diverted to Gander, Newfoundland. In the next few days the people of Gander gave shelter, food, comfort, and friendship to over 6,000 stranded strangers, many of whom had never heard of the place until then.

Lovely premise for a musical in this too-cynical age. But the story wasn’t about the show. It was about theatergoers who’ve seen the show, then gone to Gander just to meet the nice people.

Maybe it’s just me. But don’t you find that more than a little creepy? And creepy on several counts. First, don’t these (mostly) New Yorkers know any nice people of their own? Don’t they know that Canada — and even New York, if they knew where to look — is full of good people? Second, the article makes it sound as if many of them are pushing their way into the lives of individuals depicted in the show, turning them into personal tourist attractions.

Now, I have no idea how large this phenomenon is. The New York Times, which spewed the article forth, can make the quirks of one neurotic middle-aged woman sound like a trend. So it may be nothing. But what the article tried to present as charming seemed crazy stalkerish from my perspective.

Yeah, maybe it’s just me. Maybe I just had too much time to think about something completely inconsequential. Maybe I simply need a heavy dose of cute cat videos or something. But ick. I hope my town never does anything notable.

—–

At least one person in my town is doing something notable — though fortunately not heartwarming.

There’s a woman who’s been dragging an American flag behind her car. One corner of the flag is anchored by the trunk lid; the opposite corner drags on the street.

I don’t know who she is. I’ve seen her and her traveling political theater, but she’s not familiar. She looks like a transient; her vehicle is heaped to the ceiling with her possessions. But she’s been around at least a month or two. She’s often spotted at the post office.

When she first turned up, one of my acquaintances happened to arrive at the PO while she was there. Curious, he asked other customers if they knew whose car that was, then he approached her to query about the dragging flag.

He first wanted to know if she was aware of it or if it was just a mistake.

She said she was dragging it on purpose.

Then she fled from him before he could ask her reasons.

My acquaintance, the guy who tried to talk with her, can look a little scary. My unspoken nickname for him for a long time was “Heroin Eyes.” He’s had a tough life and it shows. I don’t know whether he has any history with hard drugs, but I’d be surprised if he didn’t. Although small, he does look like the kind of guy who could hurt you.

Thing is, though, he’s very much a libertarian. He approached her simply because he was curious. He might even have agreed with her motives, had she explained them. But explain them, she won’t.

Instead she pulls a tattering flag along the road day after day but is unwilling to elucidate her motives or her message. She provokes without point.

When I’ve seen her, she’s had an apprehensive expression, as if she’s expecting to be attacked — though even in this little “red” town, nobody would do that. Some old vets might sneer and snort at her. But if you’re going to drag a patriotic symbol in the dirt, you surely expect that — and more. And part of your protest would be being prepared for questions and even hostility.

What kind of mindset does something so public and provocative — then reacts with terror even to casual questioning? What kind of “statement” is “I’m bold and defiant enough to use an American flag for a dustmop, but I’ll run like hell if you ask me why”?

Funny old world this is.