Most every Saturday morning, I and a few fellow martial arts practitioners train in the park on Adams Avenue in Kensington. This is our 20th year of weekly practice. After training, we usually go to the Kensington Cafe for coffee and conversation. We have solved a lot of the world’s problems in our Saturday morning conferences. No one pays attention, of course.
Over the years, our Kenpo club has had members from a wide range of backgrounds. China, Norway, Mexico, Poland, Romania and other countries have been represented. The staff and clientele of Kensington Cafe similarly represent a wide diversity of nationalities. This morning, as we checked in at the host stand, we excused ourselves for perhaps getting ahead of another patron. In replying to our apology, she first said that she was only learning English and could not speak very well.
We encouraged her and a conversation ensued.
“Where are you from?” I asked.
She hesitated, looked down at the sidewalk and then said, “I am from Russia.”
Wanting to assure her that I wouldn’t be blaming her for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, I said, “These must be difficult times for you. What brought you to America?”
She replied, “I am here with my daughter and her family. I had to come. I was a university professor in Moscow. I had a flat and a country farm. I have relatives in Russia. But I had to leave. We love Ukraine…”
She began to weep and could not continue to speak for a few moments.
“We are glad you are here”, I said. “This must be a very hard time for the Russian people as well as the Ukrainians.”
“Yes…yes it is,” she said, wiping tears away.
Her daughter and one of her grandchildren arrived. We said hello to all, leaving them with good wishes and smiles as we found our table. As we sat down, the three of us who had stayed for coffee talked about our meeting with the sad woman from Moscow. Asgeir, who is from Norway, and Fred, who is of Aztec heritage, born in the Mexican state of Guanajuato, agreed that ordinary people around the world are truly the same. We all just want a peaceful life where we can strive to improve our situation and enjoy the simple joys of family and living a full existence. Somehow all this gets screwed up by a few people who want power over others.
I left the cafe with the thought that I should do more to draw closer to people who don’t think like me, don’t vote for the same candidates and who have alternate views of what our country “should be”. The more I get closer to them, the more I know I will find similar folks who want the same things in life that I do.
In America, it’s time we found ways to be glue, rather than wedges. It is something we can instantly act upon, as a counter weight to the forces that pull as apart.