He is my grand nephew’s classmate and they were both playing “inspectors” at Ellis Island in their third grade performance of people in their own family who had immigrated to America.
It was funny, touching, terrifying, and then it was just flat out sobbing wonderful.
The funny part was my grand nephew who was totally smitten with his fake mustache and twirled it through his entire inspector duties.
The touching part was the dark-haired girl who stood up and said her mother was the immigrant in her family. Her mother had flown here in a plane a few years ago because she was going to die if she stayed in Bulgaria.
The terrifying part was one nine-year old inspector who apparently has been watching too much of Lou Dobbs on CNN (Goodbye, Lou, don’t let the door hit you in the you know where on your way out) and was positively hard-hearted and dismissive of the immigrants arriving in front of his desk.
The flat-out sobbing wonderful part was the tall Chinese girl who got up and said she was the immigrant in her family because her birth parents had abandoned her when she was just months old. She had been taken to an orphanage in China to wait for someone to claim her. Her American adoptive parents, she told the class, found her because they had been searching the world over for a daughter just like her.
Gulp.
Welcome to the new world, sweet girl.
Lately, I’ve been trying to create a bit of a new world for myself and I’m hoping for this Vincent Van Gogh inspector above rather than a Lou Dobbsian– my inspector, I am hoping, will come with a wavy mustache and slate blue vest and an unapologetic sense of color and will wave me on to the new world with my new carpet, mid-rise jeans with occasional coin slot views, but armed with one gigundro, jam-packed hard drive.
Starting over in the new world is an act of will born of necessity. Lives may be at stake, both lived and unlived.
©Pat Coakley 2009
PHOTOGRAPHY CANNOT BE USED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION
There you have it: funny, touching, terrifying and sobbing wonderful.
Describes perfectly the human condition and the conditions humans are in.
How evident it is, even in third grade ( and kudos to the teacher ), that influences and opinions are formed early.
Now make a poster of this amazing image and hang it on your grand nephews’ wall to remind him that falling into the funny category is far better than the terrifying.
And after you do that, wallpaper Main St. with them for everyone else.
Another great post Pat.
Wow. This is amazing. I love all the different pieces, love that all those kids got to hear all those pieces. And I love this photo! (And who wouldn’t play with this moustache all day?!)
These kids represent the new world… all shades of it. Let’s hope the terrifying 9-year old gets beyond what is probably his father’s propaganda. Great image with those primaries… yes, I’d twirl that mustache, too, and probably be loathe to give it up!