First of all, let's me clear: Doctor Doctorman NAILED IT on Beardstown. Just a fucking heroic effort from a grizzled veteran of the Tour Wars. I'm only adding this in because I had my own thought/feeling about Beardstown, one that Doctor Doctorman couldn't know. HIS PRECIOUS STETHOSCOPE CAN'T HEAR MY THOUGHTS.
I actually found Beardstown disappointing. I'd heard about the Latino influx for so long, I expected something epic, like a little Spanish Harlem on the edge of town, or violent street clashes between Latino and Gringo youths (by which I of course mean well-choreographed musical numbers where ever fifth dance step looks mildly aggressive. Keep cool, boy).
But I didn't find that. I mean, we saw plenty of evidence that Beardstown had a growing Latino population- we saw people on the streets, the signs that Doctor Doctoman posted- but there wasn't that much. We had to wind around for half an hour before we found a Mexican restaurant that looked at all open. In general, it just looked like another run-down Illinois river town- cute public square, vacant buildings, dead factories (Except for Cargill, I suppose), Lincoln.
Also, we didnt' get a picture of it, but there was totally a stump burning in someone's yard. Just cold burnin'. It kinda felt like a religious experience.
Anyway, the existential question is now on the board: Are we EVER going to find a town that's really different? Read on, gentle web surfer.
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