Walking back from the grocery store in sunny Caruthersville, Missouri, today, I saw three women-presenting humans. The oldest was in her 40s, the other in her 20s, and the youngest was maybe six years old. They were getting canned sodas from a vending machine in their neighborhood.
The oldest suddenly asked me, “Where are you from?”
I smiled and chuckled because she seemed to know, without question, that I was not from here. I told her I live in Santa Fe, NM. We chatted for a bit, and I asked for her name. She said she had not told me her name because she did not know me.
I looked her in the eyes and said, “I hope that you find trust.”
She just stared back at me, not knowing what to say. There was a silence.
After saying this, I began walking away. I still had two more miles to walk back to the canoe with four bags of groceries. I stopped about ten feet away and added, “All friends are strangers at one point.”
She agreed.
We all ended up walking and talking in the same direction for about two blocks. They seemed confused about why I was canoeing the Mississippi River. They asked if I was swimming the river and where my boat was.
I asked if they ever get down to the river. They all shook their heads and flatly said no.
This is a common occurrence. Many people I interact with have no direct relationship with this vast and powerful body of water.
When I was reading about the history of the river, I saw that the Army Corps of Engineers referred to it as a “vital industrial artery.”
Excuse me … what?
This cold and objective use of language to describe the second longest river in North America is part of a deeper issue that has, for better or worse, shaped the relationship many communities along the river have with their strange neighbor: the Mississippi River. The people who happen to govern have beliefs. These beliefs influence policy, and this policy shapes how we move through the world. Policy shapes our present and our future. Instead of seeing the Mississippi River as a living body, people are taught that it is essentially a dangerous, polluted highway. They are taught not to go near it.
Why am I sharing this?
How many of us are aware of the history of the policies that shape so many of our behaviors and beliefs?
Have we examined the moral positions of the people who created these policies?
The mother, daughter, and granddaughter all looked at the river with a foreign disinterest.
We are no longer strangers.
And yet, I never got her name.
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