I have no problem in admitting that I am not the most urbane man you will ever meet. I have only basic knowledge of the social proprieties, often fail to have my shoes polished, and have a hard time getting the part in my hair to come out straight. There’s no doubt that I prefer faded cotton to Armani any day.
But when I was asked to attend a conference at a swanky hotel in Cincinnati a week ago, I took it as an opportunity to improve my social graces a bit while getting away from my cornfields and deer-dodging and country living for a few days. I reasoned that the experience certainly couldn’t hurt me.
So, I packed a sport coat and a few pairs of socks, grabbed a good book for the quiet times when TV noise was not an appealing option, pushed my wife into the family wagon to help keep me out of trouble, and headed off to the land of complimentary soap and wake-up calls. We had, for the most part, a very good time.
It’s not that we were going to a snob convention; everyone we met there was gracious and kind and a bit travel weary, some coming to town from as far away as Arizona and Montana. Virtually all were educators, and we spent a good deal of time commiserating on the state of schools and the assaults on them that seem so popular these days. I left with a few ideas for my classroom, the names of several newfound friends, and with the satisfaction in knowing that I hadn’t dribbled coffee on my favorite blue tie or eaten peas off the blade of my knife.
As I said, I’m not exactly David Niven, but my wife and I together aren’t Ma and Pa Kettle, either.
I’d like to think that no matter where I am, no matter who I meet, and no matter what I am doing, I learn something from my experiences, and that I leave folks behind with a favorable impression of life in Parke County and the people who come from the place. Like Longfellow Deeds in Frank Capra’s classic, “Mr. Deeds Goes To Town,” I really do believe that most people are decent, and our trip to a big city proved me right.
If you’ve never seen “Deeds,” you should (Please, don’t grab the version with Adam Sandler by mistake). Made during the dark days of the Great Depression, the film tells the story of a bright but ingenuous writer of greeting card verse who hails from tiny Mandrake Falls. Deeds teaches us lesson after lesson in humility and honesty and charity as he wanders the streets of New York City. The film is Capra’s manifesto of common sense, simple living and American values.
The plotline is easy enough: Gary Cooper’s Deeds inherits $20 million from a rich uncle, leaves the cocoon of his small town to claim the fortune, but soon runs afoul of the press, money-grubbing relatives and shyster lawyers. Because he hopes to give his newfound fortune away to starving farmers, he eventually is hauled into court on suspicion of insanity.
Of course, I make no claims to be Deedsian, although I may have appeared in the role of simpleton in Cincinnati as I awkwardly hailed a cab or tipped a doorman or meandered into the right-hand turn lanes while more experienced city drivers politely honked their horns to remind me to get my turnip truck out of their way. Unlike most men, I suppose, I had no problem in asking for directions, and I tried to not appear too shocked when I was handed our dinner bill at a decidedly smart Brazilian restaurant a block from our hotel.
Actually, I like big cities; I have stood a good while along the Lake Michigan shore to look at the glow of the Chicago skyline in the evening, and I listened to the symphonic roar of its traffic and jets and wind. Whether it be St. Louis or Washington, D.C., Cleveland or Buffalo, Pittsburg or New York, itself, I have enjoyed my time in those places so far removed from my world in rural Indiana so much that I have never shied away from going back.
Although we couldn’t identify much of the finger food we ate that weekend, we gave it a chance, and as far as I knew, I managed to use the correct fork and spoon, and properly managed to hide a glop of gristle from my dinner companions’ view. I never referred to the hotel pool as a cement pond, didn’t ride the elevator for fun, and used only as much ice as we needed for our tap water. I refused, by the way, to spend $3.25 on a four-ounce bottle “left for our convenience.” As Deeds would have proudly said, “it just makes sense.”
Like all American cities, Cincinnati has its share of troubles. We were amazed — should I say, ashamed — at the number of homeless and poor people who were on its streets. For every magnificent and glassed downtown building, we also saw the trash, the empty lots and the burned-out shells of old apartments that plague most large towns. Those images stayed with us much longer than the stretch limos lined up near our hotel, or the laughing couples in the lobby who held their cocktails with their little fingers appropriately askew. At night, despite my sleepiness and a pillow pulled down over my head, I could hear the cascade of desperate sirens through the triple-paned glass of our hotel windows.
On our second night in town, we went to hear the Cincinnati Symphony, and despite needing an all-points bulletin issued to find the cab driver who couldn’t have known that I had left my glasses in his back seat, we settled into our balcony seats and soaked in the radiance of the gorgeous old Music Hall as guest pianist William Eddins played Gershwin’s “Concerto in F,” that all coming after Copland’s “Appalachian Spring.”
In the warmth of that place, there were no city slickers, no country bumpkins, just people who shared in the beauty of those few moments together. It reminded me that every man who has a place that he can call home, is lucky.
One more thing came to mind: A big city is a nice place to visit, but I don’t think I’ll ever want to live in one.
Mike Lunsford can be reached at hickory913@aol.com, or by mail, c/o the Tribune-Star at P.O. Box 149, Terre Haute, IN 47808. His second book, “Sidelines: the Best of the Basketball Stories…,” will be available soon. Visit Mike’s Web site at www.mikelunsford.com.
Local & Bistate
The Off Season: Improving a social grade: Mr. Lunsford goes to town
- Local & Bistate
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Patriotism & Honor
From his vantage point, Sonner Faught could see almost every volunteer in the cemetery.
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Graduation turns to mourning in Clinton
Jeana Lunsford’s graduation from South Vermillion High School Saturday should have been a time of celebration.
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School choice proponents foresee growth of vouchers
Twenty-seven Vigo County students benefited from tax-supported vouchers during the first year of the Choice Scholarship Program, and that number is expected to grow for 2012-13, say Indiana school choice leaders who visited Terre Haute Thursday.
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Tales of obstruction meet first takeover attempts
A decade after Indiana legislators gave the state the power to take over chronically failing schools, the first implementation of the law is meeting with resistance, skepticism and questions about its costs.
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THE OFF SEASON: Raising a flag for my father, veteran or not
My daughter, Ellen, and I stood at my parents’ graves on Mother’s Day a few weeks back and talked about how it couldn’t possibly have been so long since we lost them. My dad, for instance, has been gone for 16 years, and that is nearly unimaginable
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3 rescued from burning residence
Quick action on the part of some first-responders is credited with saving the lives of three people in a Vermillion County fire early Saturday morning, according to the Vermillion County Sheriff’s Department.
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He never forgot a name: Friends remember victim of fire at Garfield Towers
When Freddie Poore met you, he never forgot you.
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Hometown boy embraces ‘Promise I Made’: Clinton native Ken Kercheval takes role in Dreams Come True production
Thanks to some help from a hometown boy in Hollywood, “This Promise I Made” is still on track to be kept in Clinton.
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STATE OF THE STATEHOUSE: Many say they don’t vote in primary because of tag that comes with it
A couple of columns ago, I posed a question about why most Indiana polling places on primary election day had so few customers.
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Police looking for convenience store robber
Police are seeking a robbery suspect following a Saturday morning armed robbery at the Jiffy MiniMart at 25th Street and Eighth Avenue.
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Graduation ‘responsibility’: Rose-Hulman stages 134th commencement exercises
Inventor Dean Kamen gave a first-hand demonstration Saturday of how to be an innovator.
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THE OFF SEASON: To the seniors, one last lecture before you go …
It dawned on me one day last week, as I sat at my desk in my teacher clothes and shoes, a stack of ungraded essays calling to me from a rather tall and depressing pile, that I hadn’t missed a high school graduation in 33 years.
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Water rescuers
Emergency personnel wheel a man who was removed from a vehicle that had been driven into the water at Crystal Lake on Boston Avenue near 14th Street at about 9 p.m. Friday.
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For many, camping outdoors is the way to beat the heat, enjoy nature
Stringing up fishing poles in the shade of American flags, households full of Hoosiers are packing into parks across the state this weekend.
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Towns along National Road readying for next week’s miles-long yard sale
Stretching 824 miles from Baltimore to St. Louis, the National Road — known as U.S. 40 through Indiana — will soon be the host site for perhaps the longest bargain market in the country.
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Rose grads honoring late president Branam at commencement today
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s Class of 2012 will honor the memory of Matt Branam during today’s commencement ceremony by wearing special pins with the phrase “Make It Happen; Make It Fun,” a favorite saying of the former Rose-Hulman president, who died unexpectedly on April 20.
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Vigo County Jail Log: May 26, 2012
The following individuals were booked into the Vigo County Jail by area law enforcement on Thursday and Friday, based on jail records. Charges are recommended by arresting officers but are not final until the Vigo County prosecutor reviews the case and files official charges.
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A fallen soldier returns home
An Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Spc. Arronn D. Fields early Thursday morning at Dover Air Force Base, Del.
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Official touts trade with northern neighbor
A top Canadian diplomat told a Terre Haute audience Thursday his country was “disappointed” when President Obama at least temporarily rejected a proposed transcontinental oil pipeline from Alberta to Texas.
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Caution urged for summer’s kickoff
Lane restrictions in construction zones on Interstate 70 and other highways around the state will be lifted to accommodate holiday travel for the Memorial Day Weekend.
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Letters delivered
Several positions will be eliminated this summer at the Terre Haute mail processing facility as the U.S. Postal Service begins moving the operation to Indianapolis, a U.S. Postal Service spokesman has confirmed.
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Companies seek Vigo tax abatements
Two Vigo County companies are seeking tax abatements for expansion projects, one of which is included as part of a county incentive package.
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High-speed chase suspect caught in West Virginia
The suspect in a cross-country, high-speed chase originating in Terre Haute last week was reportedly in federal custody Thursday evening.
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Second victim of deadly I-70 semi-trailer crash identified
The Vigo County Coroner’s Office has identified the passenger of a semi-tractor crash on May 16 in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 near the 12-mile marker.
- VIGO COUNTY JAIL LOG: May 22-24, 2012
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Burn ban in effect for Vigo County through holiday weekend
Vigo County officials have issued a burn ban effective Thursday and remains in effect until 8 a.m. Tuesday.
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Brazil remembers a Fallen Son
A small town seemed sadly quiet Wednesday, waiting to honor a local fallen warrior.
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ISU OKs four-year degree guarantee
Indiana State University has announced a four-year “graduation guarantee” for students enrolling this fall and beyond.
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Dems tout good side of compromise
Indiana Senate Minority Leader Vi Simpson, chosen to run as the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor with gubernatorial candidate John Gregg, said during a stop Wednesday in Terre Haute that bipartisan experience is a key factor in creating jobs and legislation to help Hoosiers statewide.
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Motorcyclist dies, motorist charged after accident
A Terre Haute man has died of injuries he sustained in a two-motorcycle, one-car crash that also injured another motorcyclist late Tuesday. The incident has led to the arrest of the car’s driver.
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