Sunday, November 30, 2008

Too fat, too white, too much luggage.

Since the election of Barak Obama, a new dividing point in the ever-shortening "eras" we have in our lifetime has been placed. We now have "pre-Obama" and "post-Obama" social eras. The last era-marker , of course, was 9/11. The world at that moment became divided into "pre-9/11" and "post-9/11" eras.

Yet some people are remarkably immune to changing eras or "change" or any kind (Obaman or otherwise).

I flew to Philadelphia for the Thanksgiving holiday last week. The airport is a marvelous place to see living history. The fat, white, suit-clad, upper-management men, moving through the airport with a multitude of large suitcases in wheeled tow (somewhat like a planetoid moving through space with orbiting satellites) hearkens back to our pre-9/11 period.

Once they were a sign of prestige: the Pierre Cardin suitcases, the ballooning 3-piece suit, the bloated rosy face, the emaciated wife, the financial industry position, the third home. In this era, they are grossly tacky.

But not everyone can change, so they remain, and they continue through the airport, too fat, too white, and with far too much baggage.

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