WALK ON THE BEACH
In the morning I walked with John, Todd and Jim around the large pond which our huge rented mansion faces on to the beach on the other side of the sand dunes. We walked slowly and saw an number of birds. But what struck me the most were the signs telling us that the grassy area between the road and the pond were conservation areas, private property, on which we were not supposed to trespass. Yet along this private area were private docks which we were not allowed on and also chairs and tables where the owners could have cocktails in the evening. Was it a conservation area or not? The tables said not? It was private property which the ordinary person was supposed to stay off of.
The huge houses on the other side of the road where the owners lived, also private property, as our mansion was, were all empty with no lights on and no cars in the driveway. We couldn’t disturb anyone by walking on their private property as we looked for birds.
What I was reminded of is the insistence that the USA is private property, illegal foreigners stay out, particularly if they came from shithole countries, which seemed to be much of the world. Private property, keep out, we got here first (but we didn’t) everyone else stay on the other side of the fence. At the same time we have USA passports and can go where we please.
And then in the evening I read an article in the New York Times on line about the tourism of the very, very rich, people with over $30 million in assets, who when traveling the world are aided by travel agencies who provide them with whatever they desire for an exorbitant fee. These are people for whom price is not a consideration, who refuse to deal with the possibility of anything being uncomfortable or going wrong. These are people whose complaints about anything, no sand on the beach, constant rain, are something they are proud of because their form of travel sets them apart from everyone else and they are proud of this, proud of how much better they are than everyone else.
These are the ultimate private property people, the ugliest of ugly Americans. It casts a shadow on our time at the beach and the fancy house we are living in.
BILLYBABA’S WANDERING 