the american dream. the land of the free. the world's superpower. there are many phrases that this country conjures up, but this trip is giving me something else. something that i had perhaps forgotten. or maybe i never knew it to begin with. america, more than anything, is a community. more importantly, it's a community made up of folk from everywhere else except america. sure, there have been generations of american born babies, but our history is relatively short when compared to the civilizations and empires that preceded us. we're a land of immigrants searching for a home. searching for a life. searching for ourselves. this is the side of america that i'm falling in love with. and this is the side i've been seeing quite a bit of on our trip.
the campground is quickly becoming my metaphor. like america, the residents are made up of people from all across the world, who come together to create a community where they will all eat, sleep and live amongst each other. the most beautiful aspect of this is the harmony in which it happens. i haven't witnessed a conflict nor seen a spark of inappropriate behavior. quite the contrary. i've seen countless folk helping out their fellow man. i've met people with the kindness that was once only attributed to family and friends. not strangers. do unto thy neighbor seems to actually be the golden rule of the campground. and then, just as the sun sets and rises again, the experience changes. campers move out and new neighbors move in. all so temporary and yet all so fluid. it's a simplified metaphor, yes. but true. and beautiful.
but there is a flip side. and that flip side has no truer a stage than las vegas. having spent the better part of a month living in campgrounds, we travelled to las vegas for a couple of nights. once the obvious culture shock wore off, i began to see the similarities between the two experiences. people come to vegas from all over the country and world. they come to relax and unwind. and much like the national parks, they come to experience a type of grandiosity that can only be found in america. vegas is america's largest campground. but there is one glaring exception: the sense of community is nowhere to be found. folks go there for themselves. they go to feed their selfish desires. greed, lust, gluttony. to behave in a way that would be deemed completely inappropriate in their hometown. they go, not for community, but for the utter lack of society. now, is this wrong? hell no. if it exists, there is a need and far be it from me to denounce it. (disclaimer: i have been to vegas many times and have had too much fun).
but here's my point. america has many sides to her. they are all valid and even necessary. speaking for myself, though, i've felt her leaning towards the vegas side of things. maybe that's simply been my perception as a former member of the angry youth. or maybe the mass media has had something to do with it. or, perhaps and probably, it's much more complicated than that. regardless, I'm changing my focus. i'm going to be spending the next two months in the campgrounds of america. and when i get back to the city, i'll be bringing that side of america back with me.
- snook.
Location:The Grand Canyon/Las Vegas
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