So, since we have been back, we've dealt with a few emotions. One is a sense of sadness. Especially Tara. But me, too. Kids seem ok. Perhaps we can learn from them.
Another is a sense of excitement. It's nice to be back in some key ways. The US is a great place in many, many ways. As I have pointed out before, if India was all we ever knew, this would be an amazing place where we would be enthralled day in and day out until it became normal.
We see this deep sense of appreciation amongst our friends from other places.
There are a series of emotions.
One thing that has gotten to me a bit is the general sense that the US is a place that has gotten a bit out of control. This is definitely a place of excess.
Yes, I know - the questions that follow are legitimate - excessive compared to what? And aren't you and your family participating, Byl? And isn't it success instead of excess? And on and on..... and they would all be fair questions and I probably don't have any definitively good answers.
But I'll stick with the "excessive" stance.
There is an excess of commitment to the wrong things in so many cases. Everyone seems to be running around chasing something. I am not sure what. But the endless and exhausting focus on performance, status, sports, competition, and the like is very evident. No one seems to have time for each other or just doing a good bit of nothing. This is most evident in the fact that children's sports are now spilled over into Sunday. I have even heard that on Sunday mornings there are scheduled sporting events for kids.
I realize that not everyone is a Christian and that people think they need the time on Sundays - but a society that has a common time for everyone to (relatively) take time to unwind and relax and ponder and think - that is a healthier society than one that pines for an eighth day of the week.
I believe that if an eighth day of the week were added to life in the US that everything would tumble into it immediately and it would provide no relief.
Additionally, there is an endless amount of consuming going on. We are staying smack in the middle of consumption central - Ballantyne. Hardly a single pedestrian to be seen, this place is a glut of cars zipping around from one place to another in an effort to purchase, purchase, purchase.
So, while this annoyance has been building for a few days, it was especially daunting to take the kids out for ice cream last night. I offered to take them out because Tara needed a break after my full day in the office and I needed to "do my part". Totally understandable. So I said "Who wants to go out for some ice cream..." in that sing-songy way that we ask that in America, with the word "cream" elongated - "creeeeeaaaam?" The kids all said. "I do" in that sing-songy way that American kids do - "I doooooooo".
We went out. In the car. To a shopping center. In Ballantyne. All good. It is what it is, it was what it was.
I got in there for a second and read the menu, looking for the plain ice cream cones. They were there. I kept reading it - incredulous. It was expensive, too expensive.
We ended up getting three ice creams for $12.84.
Now, I know the game and don't begrudge anyone their profit margin. That's the set-up that keeps things going in this neck of the woods. But $12.84 for three ice creams? What is that about?
And there is more of that impulse to be seen in many places. Houses that are on the market for more than the market can currently bear because the prices before were not connected to the true value of the house. And so many Americans spending an extra ten percent above their income through hitting credit cards. And the cars with their excessive girth. And $75 dollar tee shirts from India, probably purchased for a dollar at the beginning of the supply chain. $90 bracelets made of leather and string.
And as I get older I realize there is no easy answer. This won't change if we pick up a sign and organize against it (disclaimer - if you are a young idealist who wandered into this blog entry, ignore me - go get your sign and protest). And we even have some complicity to all of this. We are in fact not so different. For example, we just joined a baseball league for Aidan that will have practices now and again on Sunday (after church, a concession that gave us a justification - albeit a weak one).
I guess in the grand scheme my observation from earlier posts is that anywhere you go there are good things and not so good things - India is pretty strong on both. So is the US. So many things to enjoy in both places.
And I think people have a general desire for wholeness and balance in their lives. And now that we have seen two things that are so different, and mutually wonderful and crappy, there is this desire to see them in balance. But there is not much balance to be seen. This is a world out of balance in many ways. We struggle under their weight of excess. India still struggles mightily under the weight of deprivation.
So, we will commit to keeping alive the desire for community in a place dedicated to individual pursuits, we will keep alive the hope for rest in a place dedicated to rushing. We'll see how it goes.
Anyway, I spent my first full day back in the office today, seeking to establish my next role and putting some sense of rhythm back in my work life. It went well. I truly enjoy working for the Bank.
