My Kind of Town
Janet Kuypers
for the 10/3/12 show with the HA!man of South Africa
6/17/12
(but you know,
us Americans may seem loud,
we may try to impose our will,
but in this global economy
we really are all connected...)
After walking through
the Forbidden City
in Beijing, China
(where all the palace doorways
had gold-covered risers
blocking people’s way into rooms
4 inches to a foot tall,
because the higher
your level of authority
or royalty status
in the kingdom,
the higher the bar
people had to step over —
not on,, but over —
to get inside
the royalty’s room)...
But after the Forbidden City
I entered the Summer Palace
An old Chinese man
walked up to me
with what I believe was his grand-daughter
walking one foot behind
though who knows,
in China
this one young girl
could be one
of his concubines,
but it’s really
not for me to judge).
But this older Chinese gentleman
walked up and asked,
in the best English he could muster,
where I was from.
So I told him the United States,
and then I said Chicago.
That’s when this man’s eyes lit up,
and he said,
“My kind of town!”
And I laughed,
nodding my head in agreement
until he leaned in toward me and said,
“Frank Sinatra sang that.”
And I laughed again,
“Yes, he did,” I said,
because even though
this world is so vast,
we will always find ways
to connect with one another.
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