In that other forum someone mentioned this Mark Twain thought:
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
Regards — Cliff
Amen!! We fear what we don't understand or are unfamiliar with. My first excursion overseas was with the AF. I was afraid to go off the installation because of a million and one stories I had heard and then embellished with my hyperactive imagination. I got over it and became a "native" with more interests off the base than on. For all its horror, I found SEA much the same. Oh..you needed to be careful and maintain good SA...but then....there are places in the Greater Boston area that require the same vigilance. People in other countries are different than in America.....and at the same time are people....just like us. I think that this is one of the subtle points made in the great read, "The Accidental Guerrilla." Think about what our reaction is to strangers coming into our neighborhood..our town.....our favorite restaurant......can it be any different anyplace else on earth? People are people...just like us.
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