This being a census year, I thought that I might offer up a few thoughts on the subject of populace enumeration and demographic trends.
The U.S. population is on the move, following careers, industries and all sorts of other things, and its wreaking all sorts of havoc on the territorial norms and local folkways of our dear country.Congressional districts and states that were once reliably in one party column or the other now find them selves changing hands in a whirlpool of colors. Once dependably red or blue areas now appear as purple on those political maps that appear in Time Magazine.Likewise, regions that were once mono-lingual are finding themselves tasked with finding second language speakers in their court, city and educational systems. Second and third languages are now popping up on road signs, menus and bathroom doors.
This is not even to mention the change in pop culture trends from one quarter of our country to the other.For instance, I attended a Country Music concert this fall, (courtesy of my good friend Jon, Im not sure Id ever willingly pay for a ticket) and under a cold clear New Hampshire sky I heard a large crowd sing along with Alan Jacksons hit song Small Town Southern Man. (With the last chorus changed Simpsons style to small town New Hampshire man)
But all of this geographic tomfoolery pales in comparison with the troubling fact that I can now (if I was so inclined) purchase a New York Yankees baseball cap in many stores in my area.How and when did this happen?All this migration has led to a muddling of sports loyalties, and its now possible to see a Pittsburgh Steelers team flag flying from a house in my in-laws Lowell Massachusetts neighborhood.
Forty years ago it would have been unthinkable to meet a local Yankees fan, but I can now count on two hands the friends I have that bleed pinstripes and dress their children in A-rod jerseys and Got Melky t- shirts.This migration of fans has been noted by the marketing department of my beloved Boston Red Sox and pitched as The Red Sox Nation with a nod to the exodus of Sox fans to all parts of the globe. So its safe to assume that in some neighborhood in the Los Angeles area there is a house with a Red Sox flag flying proudly from the front door.
The sports fan scene gets even more jumbled at my church. Our youth pastor is a Chicago Bears football fan (the self same Bears who beat up on our beloved New England Patriots in the Super Bowl back in 86) and of the men on our board of elders, one is a Chicago White Sox baseball fan (the first one I have ever met) and another proudly wears his vintage Hartford Whalers hockey jacket.And speaking of migrations, I dont have the heart to tell him that the Whalers have now moved to North Carolina and are now called the Hurricanes.
Wait, a professional hockey team south of the Mason Dixon Line?
Yes, and the recently won the Stanley Cup. (Hockeys championship trophy)It gets worse.
They beat a team from Canada.
Somewhere Lord Stanley (a Canadian Prime Minister and the giver of the first championship cup one hundred years ago) is turning over in his grave.
We live in confusing times indeed.And after all this regional extrapolation, I have to ask myself this question; is this the melting pot that our founding fathers envisioned?
After all, wasnt our first president himself a fan of football's Washington Redskins?
