Travels in History

Williamsburg, Barnes and Noble Bookstore, Market Square

Well, I made it, and left my luggage at the check-in desk. The rooms will be ready around 1:00. Our flight leaving SFO was uneventful, after if actually left. We sat for a while at the gate because they were slow loading all the luggage. I had the remarkable blessing of a free seat in the middle on our row. Every minute they left the door open I was sure that someone would show up for that seat, but that did not happen. They closed the door and made several announcements about how they were loading the bags as fast as they could, and we would leave soon. But then they pulled the jet way back up to the door, and a woman came from the back of the plane and got off. The flight attendant explained later that she had had a panic attack, and had to get off the flight. So then they had to open up the luggage compartment again and find her bag. TSA rules say if she gets off her bag gets off too. In the end, we left about 45 minutes late, but only arrived 10 minutes late. I slept most of the way.

I did not have far to go in Charlotte, and that flight left on time. It was a small plane, and many passengers had not paid any attention to the “limited luggage space” notice, so there was some trouble getting all the bags into the overhead bins. A few had to be gate checked, but we got off eventually, and flew into Richmond with no incident.

It is raining a bit here, but it makes it cooler, so that is a good thing. It is muggy, but not too bad, but it is only 10:30 am. Things feel good and familiar here, although I do have that feeling that I should turn around and count students, or at least keep checking my watch for the time we are to meet. I guess that feeling will go away soon enough. The café here is mostly deserted, except for a few people on laptops and a woman setting out coloring books and crayons – I guess she is expecting a large number of children at some point. She does not seem to be in a hurry, so it may be a while before they get here. I have to get back into the practice of picking a table based on where the electrical outlets are. I have not managed to get on the wifi. The computer can see it, but I am getting an error connecting. I will go back to finishing my essay and then try again. I should not be messing around on the internet anyway, although I do have all morning.

A cat in Williamsburg

SFO Terminal 1, Gate 30

Here I am waiting at the airport.

I got stopped going through security.  The agent said she could see a blade – like a razor, and I could not for the life of me figure out what she meant.  She went through all the pockets of my bag (one I am sure I have flown with to DC) and finally found the offending item.  It was the CD case opener from Encyclopaedia Britinnica! I have not seen that thing for years, I have no idea how it got there.  Oh well, it is gone now, one more bit of trash for the TSA to have to deal with.  Sorry about that.

I don’t think I have been to this part of the airport in ages.  I guess we usually fly United.  But I have found a seat near a plug (there are very few, but Southwest has a “Charging Station with a small countertop and bar stools) and I have ages before my flight boards.  Time to do my homework.

The question is: What does it mean to you to be a United States citizen, or in other words, How would you define the character of a United States citizen?

My first reaction is that these are two totally different questions, not the same question restated, so I will have to think about that part of it for a while.  But my initial reaction is that I want to quote the speech Andrew Shepard makes toward the end of American President when he says, ““America isn’t easy.  America is advanced citizenship.  You got to want it bad, cause it’s going to put up a fight.  It’s going to say, “you want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage, advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land is the land of the free?  Then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag.  The symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms.  Then stand up and sing about the land of the free.”  I don’t think I will quote the entire thing, but it does get at some of what I probably want to say.

Greetings from Williamsburg

I am here, and everything is great, except I can't find a wifi connection.  I am using a computer in the lobby, so I can't upload all the posts I wrote while traveling.  I am working on figuring something out, but right now that is just the way it is.  I guess I am back in the 18th century.

I have a relaxing afternoon with nothing to do, and then the program starts with dinner at 7pm.  I am off for a walk, since the rain has stopped.