What's wrong in Nacirema?

Public restrooms


I enter the ladies room and there is a woman bent over looking thru the hole under the door to find out which stall is free. None; all of them are taken and she’s looked under each door. “Terrible!” I think. And I wonder if other people feel like me, how wrong are the public restrooms, how bad are those big gaps under the doors and walls of those cubicles, how bad are those cracks between the door and the wall, almost an inch at the place where the lock is. By the way, what’s that lock for? Really?!!




Is it just that I’m a woman and we have our own special privacy concept? I know, men share their peeing with no apparent problem… or else? Am I right? Any man on this? I haven’t traveled a lot, but in every country where I’ve been, come on! They have real rooms (closed top to bottom) for the restrooms. Civilized countries from the First World (like France and Switzerland) as well as Third World countries like mine, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile or Brazil.

Whereas in Nacirema, where people have their privacy rights written in the Constitution, they go to the restroom in public! Is something wrong?

turkey matters

It's turkey day! People gather at the "turkey" table once -maybe twice a year to give thanks honoring a historical event that happened more than four centuries ago. The story could already have the status of a legend. And it actually has much of a myth. Like Roland Barthes, I am also "fascinated by the meanings of the things that surround us in our everyday lives." The turkey is no longer just an edible animal, but a symbol, with so many connotations, that people could even wear its image on a pin and deliver a cluster of meanings to choose from, depending on the reception of the reader.

Does not the "turkey" represent a baggage of values, traditional customs, the quality of relationships, a people's idiosyncrasy, its identity? Does the turkey represent American solidarity, will for progress, resiliance, family support, mutual help, charity, and good will...

I'm not blind either to the other side of history and its corollaries, but I guess, a people has the right to show that human nature has its contradictions, they are real and are not mutually exclusive; on the contrary, we constantly cohabit with the good and the evil. In any case, I chose to write today only about the positive meanings of the turkey. The news had a story today about some people who found new uses for a frozen turkey, like knocking down a thief with it, bowling, covering holes, etc. Funny! I don't have that much imagination. Additionally, I'm glad to learn that people are giving away free turkeys; that we, the immigrants are learning how to celebrate with turkeys (something unheard of in the country where I came from, because we don't have any problem finding something to celebrate, but with cows! And even though we don't celebrate any Thanksgiving Day it doesn't mean we are not grateful for the cows, the gauchadas and the mates. Because, ¡un buen asadito no te lo niega nadie! y el mate, ¡menos! There I have another chapter of daily life mythology that I promise to address some other time.)

What a queer planet!

Many think, The Little Prince is a children's book. On the one hand, it could be. On the other hand, however, it has many levels of meaning that children can't see.

"Quelle drôle de planète!" Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

For example, today this is my picture: "good morning" he greeted the world, but only did the echo answer, "good morning, good morning" so the LP concluded that "People have no imagination, they repeat whatever one says to them". Usually,- I'm guilty too, we are so busy making a life and surviving that we forget to live, to be human beings, to relate to one another, to make true connections. We send e-mail chains that say nothing about ourselves, we text and phone people that we could visit because they're not that far after all.

I wonder if this crumbling down economy is not the result of a crumbling down humanity. We live closer and closer together in the cities while we draw farder and farder apart. I remember some years ago when my sister lived in the countryside, her closest neighbor lived 3 km away. They often walked or rode a horse once a day to pay them a visit and have a chat over a shared piece of fresh bread, or cakes. Now, I never see the face of my neighbor whose house is just a few feet away. We have no spare time? What's the matter with us? Do we prefer to talk to "rocks" that just repeat what we say? Or worse, are we afraid of each other? This week I'm thinking about changing. Shall I?