I must admit that I don’t know much about the world at large, and certainly less about my country specifically. This became rather clear as I watched 2016 presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee square off against Jon Stewart in what appeared to be a largely one-sided battle of wits. Huckabee, in his new book, divides Ameica into two basic regions—the coastal know it all people who supposedly feel they are greater than, and the inner-continental Americans who live very different lives than their coastal brethren. Huckabee stopped short of equating our country to China, but it was obvious that he saw a cultural and perhaps class divide, yet conveniently sought to ignore the cultural relativism inherent therein. Still, it sparked in me a question of understanding. How much do I know about the world I live in?
Not much. I don’t know that I’m even consciously aware of Arizona’s sub-cultural diaspora. For example, it is only now that I’ve begun to realize that two of the three largest magazine markets have nothing directly to do with sex. Playboy and their ilk will always dominate shelf space, but looking beyond that, a lot of real estate is being allotted to crossfit magazines and gun journals. I could’ve guessed about the guns. Any state responsible for a reinvigorated minute man movement and a slew of Walmart shootings (one of which I was quite nearly the victim of) is bound to be about the guns. The crossfit is more of a surprise. At the same time it is an ‘of course/doh!’ moment as well. I’d openly guess that we lead the world in number of yoga pants per capita. Fitness is a thing here. A trendy thing.
It would take longer than ten minutes to dissect it all but I can speculate that the enormous Mormon church plays a role in this. Everyone I know within the religion talks up fitness like a tenet. Every female Mormon I know is on page with fashion and trends. That combination is ripe for crossfit. In fact, in the town I live in (supposedly 40K large) there are no less than three functional crossfit studios, not to mention the numerous unassociated classes and clinics. We even have our own Tough Mudder.
The point is, I don’t know my own surroundings, which is to say there is always more to learn about where you live and why the people of that place are the way they are.
Some Thoughts:
- Classes started today. Felt good to be back in the classroom, though I clearly need more time to rev up my teaching engine.
- Some people are always victims. Some people are victims and refuse to admit it.