Gray Pride

Gray Pride

As another election season rolls through, the various media outlets and talking heads busy themselves by spouting pseudo-news and ever increasingly alarmist stories about “A country divided!”  We have Red states, Blue states, Environmentalists, Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, Anti-LGBT, Black Lives Matter, the 99%, States Rights, Big Business, Big Pharma…Big Deal!

Working as a traveler in this great country we have come to a simple yet troubling realization:

Nothing is as black and white as it may seem.

Our experiences traveling have expanded our worldview in ways we never imagined.  Working in the homes of migrant workers in California.  Treating the Complex Regional Pain Syndrome of a former marine, also suffering from PTSD, in Colorado.  And in New Mexico, teaching a Navajo farmer how to walk again after suffering a compound fracture when one of his goats ran into him.  As home health therapists we have been in mansions where the owners allowed their pets to poop and pee anywhere in the home, and in Section 8 housing so well maintained you could eat off of the floors. Each of these patients – each of these relationships – have shaped us in very unexpected ways. 

The thousands of clients we have worked with have all had their own stories to tell, stories that have molded who they are.  Hopes and dreams.  Successes and failures.  Each one just as valid and important as the next. What has really made them hit home however is that fact that we do not just hear these stories, but get to live in the same communities as these people while on contract.

For every soundbite or catchy headline we have seen the silent counterpoint.  There are wonderful people who, very rightfully, view life completely differently that we do, and often have much more compelling reasons why. 

For example:

It is a very well known and established fact that preventable diseases, such as diabetes and certain types of heart diseases, plague the African American population, especially living in urban areas.  And for as long as I can remember various instructors would explain that “all we have to do is educate these people on healthy lifestyles and dieting.”  Having grown up in an upper-middle class suburb of Columbus I also felt this was a very reasonable approach.  Simply educate folks living in urban areas on the benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, and all of their problems will be solved.  Easy as that.

Flash forward to 2014 – inner city Oakland – Im standing in a federally subsidized housing unit (that the previous PT refused to enter, leaving the case to me) with the screen door propped open because otherwise the slightly-sweet scent of rotting garbage would be overpowering.  It is 4 pm but there are no kids playing in the courtyard outside, only a homeless man curled up under the stoop of the apartment next door.

The patient I am working with, Ms. Richards, has a laundry list of ailments including nearly every preventable life threatening disease possible, and is immensely grateful to have someone provide her assistance.  

Being the eager young therapist that I am, I have decided that it is my job to educate this poor soul of the error in her ways, and how to change it simply by adding a few leafy vegetables in here or there. 

Her response, “Honey, all of the affordable foods is carbs.  Even if there was a grocery close enough I could get to, I cant afford none.”  “Hold on” I said, “What do you mean by ‘if there was a grocery store close enough?  Just go to Trader Joes or Safeway.”  “Son, you clearly don’t live in Oakland do you.”

Ms. Richards was already very well aware of what constituted a healthy diet.  She later would tell me how much she loved kale and sweet potatoes, but what she was lacking was access.

I know this sounds ridiculous, but if you don’t believe me check it out at this link on Google Maps for yourself.  The majority of Oakland proper gets the lions share of their groceries from corner markets and gas station type convenience stores.  Otherwise most of the little red dots you see on there are gourmet grocers or niche markets. 

There is an expression in the tech world that says that you should have “strong opinions, weakly held.”  I cannot agree more.

Our presuppositions have not always been wrong, but rarely were they entirely right.  As we have traveled the US we have been forced to constantly be re-evaluating our opinions.  New people, new data; new outcome, new opinion.

The most straight forward conclusion we can draw, thus far, is that America is still very much the melting pot it always has been.    We just fail to recognize it.

What makes America Great is that we are all so different.  It is in our differences that our true character shows through.  Standing too close to Van Gogh’s Starry Night all you will see is disparate and distinct brush strokes.  Stare too closely at some sheet music of Louis Armstrong’s and the notes seem to bounce chaotically out of place.  But it is this contrast that makes a masterpiece truly great.

Just as a painter uses a thousand strokes or a jazz soloist a thousand notes.  It is in our contrast from one another, our differences, where our greatness shines.  Even in times of political discord we are reminded that while we may seem as opposite as black and white, we are separated by only a few shades of gray.

Written by Stephen Stockhausen

Call for comments: We would love to hear your thoughts….may not political views, but your thoughts on how travel has shaped your ideology.