Areas of Unrest

2 July 2000 - True Survivors

QOTD: "There is hopeful symbolism in the fact flags do not wave in a vacuum." - Arthur C. Clarke

Reading: Richard A. Lupoff, The Sepia Siren Killer

Listening to: The Velvet Touch of Los Straitjackets

In case you missed it, the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change, the opposition party in Zimbabwe) picked up roughly 50 seats. That's nowhere near a majority, but it's a significant victory since ZANU-PF has controlled all but three seats up to now. The main reason I'm mentioning this is that it was far harder for me to find this out than it should have been. Without net access, it would have been essentially impossible. I realize that this isn't exactly a story that affects most Americans (and, in fact, it doesn't really affect me; it just interests me because I spent so much time in Zimbabwe) but it's symptomatic of our general insular views. It makes me wonder how much I miss out on because I don't spend the time to search out international news for places I haven't been to and am not really planning to go to.

Another symptom of that was my reaction to a bit of junk mail I got this week. I get a lot of travel related junk mail, so I wasn't exactly surprised to get an American Express flyer on discount packages to Fiji. Never mind that I have zero interest in lying around at an all-inclusive resort for several days. What disturbed me is that the vast majority of people who would look at this wouldn't even know that Fiji is in a state of political chaos right now. Even if these resort communities are safe enough (and I admit to having no idea whether or not they are), the economics of that sort of tourism are a large part of what leads to coup after coup. In this case, as I understand it, it's a matter of which ethnic groups benefit from the resort jobs. And that is not exactly an unusual situation. It's an issue throughout the Caribbean, as well as Oceania.

Which brings me to the subject of so-called reality based television. I haven't bothered to watch Survivor because the notion of testing one's skills by what amount to a bunch of summer camp games is absurd. It would be far more interesting to set a group of people in a typical Third World travel situation. Having to fend off touts, decide what food might be safe to eat at a street market, attempt an international telephone call, buy a train ticket, etc. are all sufficiently intimidating in that environment.

Or, even simpler, have them cope with my typical business travel. This week's excursion involved having to stay at a particularly scary motel in Longmont, since everything else appeared to be booked up. What made it so scary? Well, let's just say that the location next to a drive-through liquor store and across the street from the cemetery wasn't exactly appealing. And the guy standing by the liquor store shouting obscenities half the night one night kept me awake. Add in the usual reliability of United's flight schedule (we only left an hour and 20 minutes late this time) and there's plenty of opportunity for mental collapse.

It's nice to have four straight days of recovery, at least. Not that I've done much with the weekend so far - reading, napping, a bit of essential housework. I've also spend a lot of time looking at assorted travel related web sites (info on Isla Robinson Crusoe and the usual daydreaming about another extended trip). Technically, I don't have tomorrow off, but I have a meeting on Saturday, so I'm taking it as a comp day. I could charge Extended Work Week (effectively overtime) but I decided I needed time more than money.

Oh, yes, I forgot to add two more sources of stress for my hypothetical survivors. Have several people mention Jonathan Richman to them so they get the song "Nature's Mosquito" stuck in their head. And make them watch the Red Sox fall apart, sigh.