I'm an American, but I'm not very tacky. I'm not sure whether I
fit in to the "bunch", but then again I try to refrain
from judging any groups as having unanimous traits, because
personal experiences so often teach, and are worth more than
group labels. I hold out for the best in people, in a limited way, no matter where they're from. Perhaps I am dangerously naive, not to understand fellow Americans in assumed traits like "no refined taste".
My Grandfather was one of twelve Texas children, growing
up in the depression. He was the one his father sent to
tell the bill collectors his family could not pay on time.
He went to Lamar College, then became Professor of Physics at
Harvard, where in 1939, his measurement for the velocity
of light was written up in TIME, LIFE and the New York
Times that year, and still is noted in Britannica, and many
other encyclopedias.
He went on to work on at the MIT Rad laboratory, in 1942
accompanying two M.A.D. Anti-Submarine devices to the
British Royal Navy.
In 1960 He interviewed Astronauts for the first Space
launches, and worked with Bell Labs on Telstar I. His name is
said by my aunt to be etched on a document on the lunar
rover used on the moon.
I've mentioned a fraction of his accomplishments. He was
not loud, nor tacky, but having some taste, iMho. In fact none of this information did he choose to share with his family, though
most of was quite allowed by his employers. I looked up much in electronics who's whos, US Patent Libraries, etc.
So basically I feel I have carte blanche to look down on
just about anyone saying I happen not to have their
"refined taste", nor would I cast uselessly too critical an eye
on any country, group, 'race', caste, etc. In my very humble opinion,
this is not the best sort of way to understand your neighbor,
unless you're ready to refine your taste, when experiencing them in person. |
