A little kindness goes a long way

We rounded the bend, so to speak, and arrived in Boston today (7/1). It poured most of the morning so we delayed our departure into the city until 1pm. This, it turns out, was a good thing as we are starting to feel a bit weary and slowly easing into the day made all the difference!

After finding our way on the T (Boston’s subway), we walked part of the Freedom Trail before heading to the Institute for Contemporary Arts where we saw an amazing (and sociological) exhibit of Shepard Fairey’s work. Fairey is a “street artist” now quite well known, whose work encourages people to question things in their environment. Fairey is also known as an appropriation artist because he uses/re-uses popular images and forms in new ways. Fairey’s artist statement indicates that he is inspired by Heidegger’s concept of phenomenology. As a sociology professor, this thrills me to no end. My pesky computer won’t let me copy and paste but I encourage you to read his artist statement and look at a lot of his work at
obey giant.com/about

Here are some of his recent art pieces:








And one you've probably seen before:





After returning to Big Mama (our name for the bus), we broke into groups for dinner. I was surprised to find the students had planned a little birthday shindig for me complete with microwaveable brownie/cake, toilet paper streamers, birthday wrapping paper on the walls and, best of all The 12 Days of Andi (sung to the tune The 12 Days of Christmas…On the fourth day of Andi, my students gave to me, “4 tubs of ice cream, 3 birthday banners, 2 kinds of cake, and a party in an RV….”).

(Here's the cake, ice cream, and bday video...)



It’s this birthday surprise that leads me into today’s blog topic -- kindness.

This trip has been two long years in the planning and it's required the help and support of many, many people. (Thanks Marcia, Bryce, Maria, Matt, Thom, etc etc etc.) Traveling for this long and in this manner (i.e., very long and active days) is difficult. However, along our journey, we’ve met many kind folks who have gone out of their way to help us. Their kindness has resulted in practical help but has usually given us an emotional lift as well. It's also re-solidified our faith in our fellow humans.

Here are just some of the folks to whom I’d like to give thanks:

1. Nick, a college student who is taking time off trom school to work in Glacier National Park on fire duty. We met him in the grocery store where we were buying supplies for a cookout. He took us to a spot where he’d gathered fire wood and helped load a bunch in our truck. We saved some money but also had a good conversation about Glacier and what to see/do. And, I suppose we could thank him for protecting a national park--our park--too.

2. A woman in the San Francisco metro who saw a few of us looking at the subway map, asked where we needed to go, and told us how to get there. She didn’t need to do that and it showed that “big city” people can/do take time from their busy lives to help others.

3. A construction worker who found my bag--with a wallet, camera, and laptop--that one of the students thought they’d put back on our bus but hadn’t. The worker turned it in to campus police in St. Paul and I was able to get it back within hours.

4. The numerous people who have fed us in one way or another -- something that is practical, to be sure, but which is also highly symbolic of community:

• The Silversmiths who cooked not one but two meals for us in their home, and as noted in a previous blog, shared their stories and time with us throughout the day. (You may also wish to read more about our day at the Navajo Nation via this lovely letter at http://www.navajotimes.com/opinions/letters.php a few paragraphs down under the heading: Your stories deserve to be heard.)
• ”Aunt Lunelle” who bought us dinner in El Paso (and took us around the city all day as well!)
• TJ’s uncle who treated us to Polish food in Detroit. Students had never had pierogi, Zupa koperkowa (dill soup), Kielbasa sausage, or Golabki: (aka "little pigeons" - cabbage parcels, stuffed with rice and meat in a tomato sauce). It was great fun for Ken and I to see them try it out for the first time!! Yum!
  
• Ken’s family who made up 12 goodie bags of “Michigan munchies” such as Kellog's Shredded Wheat and Germack Pistacio Company snacks.
  
• Matt and Holly who drove 100 miles to bring us “real” Dr Pepper and tell us about Texas culture.
• Pierce's family for treating us to a Gullah lunch, meeting us for dinner, *and* getting us 40/40 cupcakes!
  

5. Theodore at the Russian orthodox church in Chicago who gave us an impromptu but detailed tour of this lovely church.

6. Folks at the House of Blues, Cleveland, who gave us free tickets to see the Roots (woot!) and also arranged for a private tour of their Folk Art collection. It was big fun!!

7. Marc Folk from the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo who met us for dinner to talk about the creative economy in his community.

8. Greg Harris at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Detroit who gave us a personal tour of this amazing collection and historic site.

9. The bus driver in Boston who took his bus for one more round, after hours, so that students wouldn't have to pay for a cab back to Big Mama.

10. Harold, a retired "Army man," who took us on a detailed tour of Fort Bliss.


These are just some of the many people along the way who have made our journey across the country a bit easier. Thanks for all your help, enthusiasm, and kindness! This trip has reminded me that it's the people of our country that make the United States of America so wonderful.