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I spent a lovely hour yesterday with my friends Heike and Christopher. They live in Hamburg, Germany, so our visits are rare -- we last saw each other in 1997 -- and it was a treat to get to catch up with them a little bit (despite Heike's first words to me after we greeted each other with a warm hug: "You're so grey!").
I first met Heike and her pal, Britta, in 1992 when they were paying their first visit to New York. They ended up bunking at my place for a few days, and we've been fast (if long-distance) friends ever since.
I remember that, at some point during that ten-day visit a dozen years ago, the subject of Germany's Nazi past came up. I can't remember the context. Perhaps we were discussing a movie or a novel that was set in that era -- we certainly weren't engaged in a heated political discussion. The topic snuck up on us, that I remember.
And I can recall feeling discomfited that the conversation had somehow taken that turn. Though Heike and Britta were born many years after Germany democracy was restored and could hardly be held to account, I feared that their country's Nazi past was perhaps a source of shame and embarrassment for them, and I regretted that the subject had come up.
I was reminded of that day yesterday when the subject of the pending election was raised as we sat enjoying a lovely autumn afternoon in Union Square Park. Heike and Christopher each asked how the pre-election period was going. Was Dubya likely to be shown the door?
For his part, Christopher seemed almost embarrassed for me -- for all Americans, really -- as he strove to assure me that he and Heike -- and indeed, all the citizens of Germany, Europe, and even the world -- understood that something had gone horribly awry here, that they did not hold us collectively responsible for Dubya's bullying and bumbling ways.
Of course, German citizens are perhaps better positioned than most to understand how things can go wrong in a country, despite the inherent decency of its citizenry.
I appreciated Christopher's empathetic reassurances even as I cursed the men who made him feel the need to express them. I look forward to the day when, if I don't necessarily agree with every move our president makes, I'm at least not ashamed of his actions.
Posted by brett at 04:42 PM | TrackBack