A sense of place seems vital to me. Where are we, where have we
been, where might we go? What is our relationship with our
neighbors, other cities, states and countries?
A sense of place seems vital to me. Where are we, where have we been, where might we go? What is our relationship with our neighbors, other cities, states and countries?
I read a statistic that said that 20 percent of American high school students could not find Canada on the map. I read another that said that if you ask American high school student to locate on the map that “country north of the United States,” over 30 percent couldn’t do it. I didn’t believe such ignorance could exist. Yet a recent email detailing the geographical ignorance of American government officials seemed to confirm that high school students are not the only Americans woefully challenged by geography.
My travel agent tells the story of some high school students who wanted to celebrate spring break by going to Hawaii. They came to her and asked about reservations at hotels. She arranged the hotel reservations, and then asked if they’d made airline reservations. One of the members of this intellectual elite said it was not necessary: “We’re going to drive.” When the agent replied that Hawaii was surrounded by water, one student, not to be deterred, said, “OK, we’ll go to Disneyland instead.”
I found this story impossible to believe, until I heard the story of the senatorial aide who insisted it would be cheaper to fly to California from Washington and then drive to Hawaii. This is a senator’s aide – one of our lawmakers.
A woman in the Senate insisted that she had to fly to Pepsi-Cola, Fla. She was not even taken aback when she was asked if she meant Pensacola. Apparently she’d wallowed in this ignorance before. A New Mexico representative wanted to fly from Chicago to Rhino, N.Y. The travel agent looked in vain for this city. She then asked, do you mean Buffalo, New York?
Ah, yes, the congressional representative replied. “I knew it was a big animal.” That’s a congressional representative – one of our lawmakers. A congressman from Vermont once insisted that his Florida package was incorrect. He couldn’t understand why his room in an Orlando, Fla., had no ocean-view When told that was not possible, as Orlando is nowhere near the coast, he replied, “Don’t lie to me. I looked on the map, and Florida is a very thin state!” This is a congressman – one of our lawmakers and policy makers.
I am now beginning to understand what goes on in Washington, D.C., and why intelligence is sorely lacking, imagination sorely scarce and common sense completely gone. These people have no idea where they are or anybody or any other place is.
An Illinois Congresswoman could not understand how her flight would leave Detroit, Mich., at 8:30 a.m. and arrive in Chicago, Ill., at 8:33 a.m. A government travel agent tried to explain the one-hour time difference to her, but she could not grasp the concept of Central Time being one hour behind Eastern Time. Finally, the agent told her the plane flies very, very fast. Apparently she bought that explanation. Again, one of our policy makers and lawmakers. Another lawmaker asked whether it was possible to see England from Canada. When her travel agent explained that was impossible, she was amazed. “But they look so close on the map.”
One would think that a veteran senator would have some understanding of travel. One senior senator needed some information about travel documents. He was told by a government travel agent that he needed a passport and a visa to enter China. The senior senator replied, “No, I don’t. I’ve been to China before and they always accepted my American Express.” Yes, I know. Another lawmaker.
Ted Brett teaches English at Gavilan and Evergreen community colleges. His e-mail address is Tedbrett\@aol.com. The Board of Contributors is comprised of local writers whose views appear on Tuesdays and Fridays.
