2009, what a year so far. As Franklin Roosevelt said, it is a year that will “live in infamy” (of course, he was referring to the “date” of December 7, 1941, when Pearl Harbor was bombed). We are half-way through this year, which anyone could have predicted was going to be a tough one. And it has been. Tough times tend to do either one of two things (or maybe a little bit of both). That is, they tend to either cloud or cleanse. This morning I feel a little “clouded.” As if everything I am doing just seems to be in vain. This year, more than in the past, every moment it seems I am “under the gun.” That I am always just barely getting by.  It is relentless and tiring. It seems like it is virtually impossible to get ahead. Anyone else out there feel like that? That kind of stress tends to cloud the mind and cause it to conjure up all sorts of doomsday scenarios, nightmarish visions and the proverbial negative-laced “what-ifs.” I can’t stand playing hypothetical “what-if” games. I guess it can be a useful exercise in preparing for the worst, but I still just don’t like it, not one bit. When someone comes at me with a typically negative what-if question, I usually answer sarcastically with another what-if that has an even more dire end result……”well, what if a giant meteor hits the pacific and causes a 1,000 foot tidal wave that completely engulfs the entire country….huh, huh?” There is no end to the number of what-ifs you can conjure up in your mind to scare you into a fetal position. But these tough times can cleanse the mind as well. That is, if you can stop the negative what-ifs and focus your mind on things that are positive in your life, since there is always something good, no matter how bad it gets. If the meteor hasn’t hit yet, you still have a chance to enjoy the remaining moments of your life, as fleeting as they may be. Why not clear your mind of all those fear-laden thoughts that weigh you down and open it to new ideas and imaginations of better things to come? July is not starting out too good for me, I admit. But it ain’t the first time I have been faced with a difficult month, and it surely won’t be the last. My daughter is coming today. That’s a good thing. I prefer to focus on that and refuse to pay any attention to what-ifs, or, even better, to turn them on their head and make them all come out with positive, rather than negative, results. Why do we always ask negative what-ifs? Isn’t it just as easy, and logical, to ask positive ones? Instead of “what if I don’t make the sale?,” why not, “what if I do make the sale?” Because the answer to the positive question is always more progressive than that of the negative one. If I don’t make the sale I will be depressed, or panicked, and do something out of desperation. If I do make the sale, then I will take positive action to generate more sales. But the answer to the positive what-if is actually something that you should do anyway, right? So I submit that positive what-ifs serve us much better than negative ones, because they cleanse the mind of fear and help us focus on making a better future. Normally, the answers to negative what-ifs are those that only help us escape disaster “by the skin of the teeth.” I don’t know about you, but I am little tired of doing that these days.

Bernie Madoff, age 71, sentenced to 150 years in prison for financial fraud. So he won’t be out until he is, let’s see, 71 + 150 = 221 years old! Obviously the man deserved it. He ruined lives. He committed the equivalent of economic homicide. He deserves to “rot in prison,” right? That is the sense of vindication that was meant to be achieved by this bizarre sentence. But I gotta tell you, the whole thing is just a bit unsettling to me. I have written in the past about materialism and greed being at the root of the problems the U.S. is facing right now. Actually, what I have written is that materialism and greed are at the root of most of the problems the entire world has faced since the dawning of civilization. I was reading this morning about Madoff and the lavish lifestyle he and his wife enjoyed during their glory years, when the money was rolling in. And why was it rolling in? How could all these sophisticated “smart-money-types” have been so easily duped by this guy who couldn’t even make it through law school? Because, frankly, he promised ridiculously high returns on their money and they were greedy enough to buy into it, no questions asked. So Madoff was driven by greed, the investors were driven by greed, and in the end the consequences of all this lust for more money and lavishness turned rotten for everyone. Madoff will rot in jail because of it. Many people have been financially devastated because of it. And so forth and so on. So what’s my point? This insatiable desire to live at levels of consumption that most people on this planet can’t even fathom, is the true “evil” that lies at the root of the whole debacle. I know that might sound harsh for the victims. And what happened to them was wrong, no doubt about it. The problem is that the whole environment engendered by Wall Street and the mechanisms by which people get caught up in it, is completely infected with this insidious form of “capitalism run amuck” that drives people to lust for absurd levels of wealth and consumption. And it seems to always blow up in their faces, sooner or later. The scandals of Wall Street over the decades stand as testaments to that fact. Madoff certainly isn’t the first and won’t be the last. The lure of Wall Street type financial extravagance was once very enticing to me. In a crazy convoluted way, it landed me where I am now. However, living in Costa Rica has opened my eyes to a different way of looking at things. A way that has taught me that happiness can be achieved apart from material wealth and consumption. The luxuries that Madoff was able to enjoy due to his financial scheme aren’t even remotely imaginable by most people that live in this region of the world. There seems to me to be this unhealthy and unholy separation of human beings into those that have this absurd level of wealth and then the rest of us chumps that live hand to mouth. Yea I guess Madoff got what he deserved, but to tell you the truth, I don’t have much sympathy for any of them. That is, neither for Madoff nor the crowd that invested with him.

The title is not really a valid alliteration. That is, not if you actually pronounce the name of Costa Rica’s most thriving beach community properly. It is not pronounced “Jack-o,” but “hawk-O” (with emphasis on the “o”). But when you juxtapose Jaco with the rest of Costa Rica, there is definitely something “wrong with this picture.” The place has become littered with “Mexican Riviera type” condo towers, each standing as a half-finished relic of some developer’s idea that Jaco could be turned into a Cancun or Cozumel experience. I have a hunch that some of these brilliant ideas stem from the imaginations of well-to-do businessmen who came to Costa Rica once and became overly enchanted with the gals that frequent the “Beatle bar.” In short, Jaco for me has become an “eyesore” and an embarrassment to the rest of the country. I can remember when things were different. Jaco was once a sleepy little surfer town with a dirt road running through. Those days are long gone. The nearby resort community of Los Sueños has met with much success and it seems that many believed that success could be easily duplicated in Jaco by throwing up garish concrete towers with condo units at ridiculously high price points. And there they sit as monuments to impulsive and ignorant ideas about what Costa Rica is. Costa Rica is green. Its greeness has been its greatest success. There are many who recognize that and successfully attempt to capitalize on the “green theme” by developing in a way that harmonizes with Costa Rica’s greeness and rich biodiversity. The results are good for the country and actually set a standard for the world. Costa Rica has become a pioneer and world-leader in the realm of eco-tourism and sustainability. But half-finished concrete towers are the antithesis of what Costa Rica is all about. Of course, now we hear repeated news that over-development is putting serious strains on the area’s resources and also polluting the one thing Jaco still has going for it, the ocean. I guess Jaco still appeals to some. The “Beatle Bar” is still going strong. There are certainly plenty of good times to be had there. Maybe Jaco will become Costa Rica’s “Spring Break” playground. Whatever it evolves into, I won’t be there to enjoy it. At least, not if I can avoid it. My advice to any out there who desire to vacation here and experience the real Costa Rica….skip it.

We’re losing our legends. Two of the greatest icons of my childhood were lost in one day, Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett…..what is going on? Should I feel old, or what? Michael Jackson, what can I say? I remember my first experience with this incredible artist when I was, I guess, age 12. It was 1972 and the song was “Rockin Robin.” One of my very first albums was of the Jackson 5. The music is timeless. Despite all this his problems, he was one of the greatest musical performers that every walked the planet and a great humanitarian to boot. It is just mind-boggling to try to comprehend his entire body of work that spanned almost 4 decades. He died at the age of 50. He is two years my senior, yet it is very hard to think of Michael Jackson as really being a middle-aged man. He always seemed like such a kid, even to the very end. I mean he lived in a place called “Never-Land.” Jackson seemed to find it very hard to cope with reality, so he tried to create one of his own. During his later years he seemed weird and distant, almost like a freak. But the fact remains that in terms of sheer talent, this guy was touched by God. And his kindness and giving nature are legendary as well. The songs and videos of his later years seemed to always carry a message of inspiration and of hope. One of my all-time favorites is Man in the Mirror. I cannot listen to that song and not feel inspired and motivated. There was something in his music that struck me that way. Kind of strange coming from a guy who often wouldn’t go out in public unless his face was covered and who had so many plastic surgeries that, well, he had a lot of plastic surgeries. I am not going to address his legal troubles because now it is time to leave all that behind and remember the man, the man-child, for the positive contributions he made to the world, because they far out-shadow those controversial issues. His passing saddens me, as I know it does so many others. He was a gift to us all and he deserves to be remembered that way.

Does being in public office exempt one from being human? I have to say that the eruption of the scandal concerning South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s infidelity saddened me. I really liked that guy….still do. He seemed to me to be the real deal. I remember when he was first elected to Congress he vowed to sleep in his Washington office to demonstrate fiscal responsibility, which he did. When he spoke it just seemed like you were listening to a real human being and not a talking robot programed to spin the latest party line. Well I guess what has now occurred with respect to Governor Sanford shows that he indeed was a real human being. Of course now the typical accusations, especially the most searing, i.e., “hypocrite,” are flying. Blood is in the water and the sharks are circling. Public ridicule is never enough to satisfy some….they have to see a life be completely shattered and ruined and tossed upon the garbage heap of fallen leaders, usually republican ones. I am hearing a lot about Sanford being one who stood up for family values and that now he has been knocked down via his betrayal of those same values. A deserved fate, many will say. Personally I remember Sanford mainly as a leader who stood first and foremost for fiscal responsibility in government. That was his platform. I don’t remember him being an attack dog during the Clinton bimbo eruptions. I heard someone the other night, can’t remember who, but I believe it was on the Sean Hannity show, say something to the effect that it is not a good idea to say that someone who has experienced a failure in life, such as marital infidelity, cannot later become an advocate for a related cause, such as family values. In my mind potentially the greatest advocates for a cause are those that have experienced the pain of the consequences of the problem for which they are advocating a solution. If we get into the habit of demanding “perfection” from our leaders, guess what? We won’t have any! Who will be willing to step up? Only those who are suffering under the illusion that they are perfect…and do we really want these people as leaders? I would prefer my leaders to not be suffering under any such “illusions of grandeur.” I prefer my leaders to be real people, with real problems and when they occur to have the guts to face them down truthfully. Sanford slipped, there is no question about that. What he does now, however, will tell the story of the kind of man he really is. For some reason it seems that we as humans really show our true colors when we are publicly embarrassed. Look at Nancy Pelosi, for instance, and her recent episode regarding her knowledge about the water-boarding incidents. I guess that is why interrogation has traditionally taken place under bright lights. Because under the red-hot glare of public indignation, it is hard to lie and get away with it. Will Sanford lie? Will he cover up in an attempt to re-polish his tarnished image? Or, will he forget about “image” and be forthright in an attempt to regain trust and get back to the work of the people of South Carolina? When Jesus admonished the pharisees and deterred their attempt at stoning a woman caught in adultery, he said “let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” Even so, in the coming days there will surely be some large ones tossed at the governor. No I won’t cheapen this post by making a comment about gringos and their glaring weakness when it comes to beautiful latin ladies. What would I know about that anyway? Let’s just hope that Governor Sanford has learned his lesson and his participation in this Carlos Gardel tango in Buenos Aires will truly be his last.

Costa Rica is a Lepidopterist’s dream. There are around 20,000 or so butterfly species worldwide and many are found here in Costa Rica. According to the butterfly experts at the La Paz Waterfall Gardens, approximately 90% of the butterfly species in Central America exist in Costa Rica, nearly 66% of neo-tropical butterflies and about 18% of all butterfly species of the world. Perhaps the most recognizable of Costa Rica’s huge butterfly population is the “blue morpho.” It is identified primarily by its electric blue and black wings, and its lilting, casual flight. At the La Paz Gardens you can observe a dazzling array of butterfly pupae, or “chrysalises” as they are called. The come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Some look like they have been dipped in liquid gold. The chrysalis represents the stage in the butterfly’s life between its existence as a lowly caterpillar and its ultimate emergence as a beautiful butterfly. This transformation is called “metamorphosis.” However, the word metamorphosis has utility outside of the context of butterfly transformation. Websters defines the term as “a change of physical form, structure, or substance especially by supernatural means.” We humans go through our own metamorphoses. The most notable might be what we like to call the “mid-life crisis.” It usually take place in the mid 40’s and can last 3 - 5 years or more. That span of time can really wreak havoc on one’s life. If the mid-life crisis is a fact of life for most people, why do we want to view it a “crisis” in the first place. Why can’t it be viewed more as a mid-life “chrysalis.” That is, as a stage that bridges the gap between what you were and what you will emerge as. Maybe what is occurring during this event of life is that the “real you” that has been suppressed by your years of trying to be a “responsible adult” is just trying to finally emerge, once and for all. No, dad, I am not “knocking responsibility.” What I am saying, however, is that we should not allow the idea of “responsibility” to act as a constraint against living the life that you were put on this earth to live. I am not too keen on the “puritanical” idea that we are supposed to just “suck it up” and remain in misery until we are greeted at the “pearly gates” by Saint Peter. I believe we were put on this earth to accomplish a pre-determined purpose and to enjoy the process of finding and accomplishing that purpose. So in that sense, the answer to the question posed yesterday, you know the one that asked…..”is the universe indifferent to how we direct our energy?”……is a resounding NO! According to my beliefs, there is a God behind the physical activity of the universe with his own idea of how our energy should be directed and the universe will operate more smoothly if it is so directed! Sometimes I believe it takes the “mid-life chrysalis” for us to come to that realization. Shrinks and Prozac aren’t what is needed during the interval. What is needed is introspection…translated, deep thought about what your life is really supposed to be about. Now what can happen during this period is that you engage in destructive and foolish behaviours that sabotage your achieving that realization. This process of self discovery will not take place if the period of metamorphosis is consumed with indulgent behaviours that will hurt you and hurt others. I know this from experience. But it is a time to reflect, a time to discover, a time to shed tired inhibitions and constraining expectations about how we are supposed to view ourselves and live our lives. But please consider this, it is hard to emerge as a “butterfly” when your idea of self-realization is to be a 50 year old man wearing a pony-tail and various and sundry piercings and tattooings. I guess there are women out there who find that attractive, but do you really want to be with them?

Can a human being be defined by one particular trait that tends to “stand out” in the mind of others, or in his or her own mind? If other people see you as being fat, then you tell yourself “I am fat.” Is that who you are, i.e., fat? Or, it could be that I am a father. Or, I am an idiot….something I frequently remind myself.  But the question “who are you” really goes much deeper than surface-level characterizations, doesn’t it? In fact, when you really think about it, it is a quite difficult question to answer. I mean sitting here pondering it, I really don’t have a readily available one…..answer, that is. I am Scott Bowers. I am a father. I am a Christian. And so forth and so on. But does any of that, or all of that, really answer this question? Scott Bowers is a name that I inherited. I didn’t choose it. I don’t even like it that much. I would prefer to be called Zorro, or something similarly mysterious and Latin. But my parents saw fit to give me the name Scott, or David Scott to be 100% accurate. I guess I have just learned to live with it. When I was young folks had the habit of calling me “Scotty,” as in “beam me up Mr. Scotty” from Star Trek. I really didn’t appreciate that so much. Living in Costa Rica, the name Scott Bowers really poses difficulties. First of all, for most ticos, the name “Scott” is readily associated with “papel higienico,” or toilet paper. Not a very flattering association, huh? I am reminded of it often here. And the name Bowers is virtually un-pronounceable here in Costa Rica. It is of German origin, which I am also not entirely thrilled about (no offense to any Germans out there).  But is that who I am, i.e., Scott Bowers? No, the name in and of itself is meaningless and I hope that I am not, at least, entirely meaningless. There are a few people in this world that find meaning in my existence. But the real answer to the riddle of “who are you” cannot be found by looking to names, or character traits, and certainly not to the perspectives of other people. It has to be found in yourself and your unique position in the universe. When you break it all down who you are, or, better, what you are, is an energy force. You are an energy force with a will to direct that energy to your choosing. You are also an intrinsic component of this universe and when you direct your energy toward a determined end, the universe must follow suit as it is “connected” to you. So maybe the answer to the question of who are you depends on where, or how, your energy is being directed at any given point in the space-time continuum. Wow, I am beginning to really sound like Mr. Scotty from Star Trek, huh? No, not really. I am just pondering difficult questions, as I often do early in the morning. I believe we all too quickly allow people and perspectives to define our place in this universe. When in reality, we have been gifted with the power to define that for ourselves and to “re-define” it as often as we choose. Of course, you can direct your energy in ways that are destructive and ways that are constructive. Or we can just do nothing at all and then our energy will slowly stagnate and dissipate and sooner or later we will completely just turn off. Haven’t you noticed that the more pro-active you are, the more energy you seem to have. And the less pro-active you are, the more depressed and non-energetic you feel. So for me the answer to the question is “I am energy.” Not a “hey that is an energetic fellow” kind of an answer, but really, when you get right down to it, that is what I am…..energy. The “who I am” is part and parcel of how I direct my energy…..positively, or negatively. I can direct it negatively and be an “SOB” or positively and be a “saint.” The crazy thing to think about is that this universe to which we are connected in comprised of an infinite number of “energy forces.” However, the majority of them have no will…their energy is directed according to physical laws. I mean Saturn can’t up one day and decide to change the rotational direction of its rings, now can it?  The only force that can be self-directed in a manner of the energy force’s own choosing is your energy, my energy, human energy. Hitler’s energy was self-directed, as was Gandhi’s or Mother Teresa’s, just towards different ends. Does that mean that the “universe” is indifferent as to how I direct my energy? Hmmmm, that is an entirely different question for another post, another day.

I guess I should consider myself very fortunate to live here in Santo Domingo de Heredia, Costa Rica. To the east I have an incredible view of the majestic and towering Vulcán Irazú. To the south, the “Cerros de Escazu” and to the north, Vulcán Barva. I live in a quiet residential neighborhood. There is a “colegio,” or high school nearby, and every day throngs of students walk down my street on their way to school. The air is fresh and cool, with Santo Domingo sitting at a higher elevation than San Jose. Everything I need is close and the city is far enough away as to be a distant memory when I am home. So why do I feel so discontent this beautiful Monday morning as I painfully try to hammer out the 500 or so words of this post? Well, I had a problem, a “financial” problem, on Friday that really put my in a tail-spin and I can’t for the life of me seem to pull out of it. My banker made a comment that really struck me. She said in trying to console me, “well, Scott I guess that life really has a way of getting in the way of things, now doesn’t it?” Yes it does! Yesterday I experienced a nice Father’s Day. My girlfriend cooked me an incredible Colombian lunch and we all went to church later that evening. I guess one of the reasons that I feel a little down is that I never heard from my own children. But who can blame them. I mean I haven’t been much of a father for some time now.  Wait, let me re-phrase that, I have really sucked as a father for some time now.  I was thinking about that this morning and trying to come up with some answers. My oldest daughter, Michelle, is coming in a few days and I am thrilled about that. Although, she is coming with her boyfriend and that doesn’t thrill me so much. But I am sure we will have a great time together. Wouldn’t it be nice though, if everything could just be “perfect.” There is always that “perfect vision” of how life should be that we hold in our heads and it seems that things just never seem to measure up, now do they? There are always so many constraints such as distance, money, responsibilities, weather, health, distractions, etc. It would be nice if God gave each of us a “magic wand” that we could just wave and make things, well, perfect. But would that even make us happy? Probably not, because just as soon as we arrived at that perfect situation, we would concoct a different vision in our heads and the whole “cycle of discontentment” would start all over again. I guess the silver lining is that the fact that things are never exactly like we want them, at least not for very long, keeps us striving forward to make them so. And it is that striving that spurs human growth. We thereby become better because of the effort to clear away all the stuff that we see in our lives that we consider bad. Ironic, huh? Make no mistake about it, I don’t like being separated from my kids. It is not in any way consistent with my perfect vision of how life should be. Many thoughtful people who know my situation, vaguely, then say, well go back to South Carolina. But I don’t like the idea of “going back.” I like the idea of “moving forward.” Going back is just not an option for me. The implications of taking that type of action are….I am searching for a word here…..not good! I could write a lengthy and boring description of why, but just trust me, it wouldn’t work….not for anyone!. So here I am. It is a tough situation, but one that I am determined to make the best of, however long it takes. Writing this blog is often great therapy for me in this process, but I hope that reading it might provide a small bit of therapy for you too. I take solace in knowing that my situation is not the only one that is “tough.” Many of you are faced with situations far more grave and yet you keep moving forward. Despite all the critics that are judging you because you are not doing things the way they would, or according to their ideas of what is right, just or moral, you stay the course. If that is your situation I applaud you as a fellow traveler on this road of life. For while the road may be quite “bumpy” at times and full of pot-holes and obstacles, just like many of our roads here in Costa Rica, it does lead somewhere different than where we began. Will that somewhere be a “perfect” place? No, but it can at least be an improvement.

I guess it would have been 1975 and I would have been in the 10th grade, a sophomore at West Brunswick High School. My father had moved our family to Holden Beach, North Carolina, a small “barrier island” on the extreme southern North Carolina coast, only a stone’s throw from South Carolina. While North Carolina is usually not considered the “deep South,” Holden Beach was close enough. When we moved there in 1965 or 1966 (not sure about the exact date) segregation of the schools was still in force. For those of you not old enough to know what that means, it means the whites had their school and the blacks another. When desegregation took place in my third year of primary school, many of the more well-to-do white families banded together to form a private school where their children could escape the unimaginable “horror” of attending school with black children. However, that idea for some reason didn’t last too long, and after two years of attending Lockwood Academy I was thrust into the world of desegregated public school. I am not clear exactly why, but for some reason I never took too well to the whole idea of racial intolerance. It may have had something to do with a black gym instructor I had beginning in the 5th grade. His name was Moe Stanley and he became a great influence on my life in those formative years. I became very interested in sports, especially basketball and Moe Stanley helped to fuel that passion. Also helping was the fact that our neighbor and close friend, Coach Gary Taylor, was the head coach of the West Brunswick varsity basketball team, which had a very successful run back in those days. The thing is that most of guys who were interested in basketball were black. I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to hone my skills on the playground courts with the black kids. I befriended many of them and this served to alienate me from the white kids who didn’t think too much of my social inclinations. In fact, there were many physical threats, although none of them ever came to fruition. My dream was to be a varsity star at West Brunswick and when I entered that school in 1975 I tried out for the junior varsity team and made the squad, being the only white player on the team. About this time I was also beginning to take notice of members of the opposite sex. Given that basketball at that time was mainly an African American activity at West Brunswick, the cheer-leading squad happened also to be consistent in color. One girl on the varsity squad really caught my eye. She was older than me, being a junior. However, my infatuation with her quickly became known by my pals on the team and the word spread to her. We began a very clandestine and quite innocent relationship, which mostly just involved talking on the phone and occasionally hand-holding after games. I might have even stolen a kiss or two, I don’t really remember. But what I do remember and what has marked me deeply for life is the reaction amongst the white crowd, young and old. My actions were, to put it mildly, scandalous and an abomination. I became an outcast, shunned by white society and threatened even with grave physical harm. Later, after I “came to my senses” and began to date a white girl, it sent shock waves through me and I would turn pale as a ghost whenever someone would mention the topic. I was reminded often, even by my own family.  Despite the fact that I grew up in an environment where this malady of thought, this cancer of the conscience, affected so many of my peers, I have always gone against the grain and that hasn’t always made things easy for me. I don’t know exactly from where my rebellion, or nonconformity, originates, but I am thankful to God that despite the pressures that I have felt from all sides to succumb, for the most part I did not. For the truth is, there is nothing so illogical, or plain downright ignorant, stupid and backwards, than to hate someone, or judge someone, or even think poorly of someone because of the color of their skin. God chose to create people of different colors and the world is a better place because of it. He knew what He as doing. I have a great deal of inner rage at the people who judged me so harshly for “siding with the blacks.” But that was not the case at all, I just hated white racial bigotry and would have taken any side opposing that. This week the U.S. Senate passed a resolution serving as a formal apology to black people for slavery, which follows similar action taken by the Congress last year. Many say this is a silly and useless exercise. However, notice well that the ones who are saying that happen to be uniformly white. Maybe they should ask their black brothers and sisters what they think about it. The U.S. has indeed come a long way from the days of ugly racial intolerance and bigotry that I experienced during my high school years, but I believe it still has a long way to go.

There are various verbs in the Spanish language I have some trouble with. One of those is the verb “meter,” or in its reflexive form, “meterse.” The verb is used in a wide variety of contexts associated with “getting into” something or “putting into” something. An example would be “meta la llave en la cerradura,” which translates to “put the key into the lock” (with “meta” being the imperative tense). The reflexive form is associated with the idea of meddling, such as “no se meta con,” which translates into “don’t interfere, or mess, with.” I hear the verb used often here in Costa Rica and for some reason it confuses me, as does so many aspects of the Spanish language. Maybe the uses of the verb “meter,” or, better, “meterse” confuse me because after all I am a gringo and we gringos have a long history of interfering in the affairs of others. We seem to carry around this notion that we know what’s best and therefore have some God-given right to impose our will. This tendency to want to get involved, mess with, or “meterse con,” the affairs of other people has given the U.S. a bit of a “bully” reputation in the eyes of most of the world. A strong reaction to the horrific tragedy of 9-11 was understandable. When Bush stood at the ruins of the former World Trade Center in New York and said something like the following, “and the people who knocked these buildings down are going to hear from us real soon,” our sense of indignation cheered him on. But it seems that our indignant reaction led us down paths that maybe we should not have trod. Maybe reaching for reasons to mess around in the affairs of people with far different ideas about how society should operate than our own was not such a good idea after all. But it’s just not right, some will say, for women to be treated as second class citizens who have to walk around wearing scarfs covering their faces! Well to us maybe so, but that decision is not ours to make, it is theirs. And we should not try to change another culture in the name of “we’re just trying to protect ourselves.” The war on terrorism I thought was about preventing terrorist events from reaching the shores of the U.S., not an attempt to “democratize” the Middle East. Iran has been a thorn in the flesh of the U.S. for as long as my memory serves me. I remember well the hostage crisis that began on November 4, 1979 and lasted for 444 days. Needless to say U.S. and Iranian relations have never been very cozy. We just don’t understand those crazy people. They do some pretty wierd $%#@ by our standards. The current situation in Iran is a decision point for the U.S. Yes there is a fighting chance that the people of Iran may prevail in their protests against the apparently fraudulent re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the puppet of the Iranian “Supreme Leader,” and a man who is viciously antisemitic and has called for Israel to be “wiped off the map.” Of course he does not have much kinder words for the U.S. But what is happening in Iran should be left to the Iranian people. This is not our fight. We have no business getting involved in it. If we do it will probably only make things worse. Sure providing moral support is a good thing and the U.S. should support the efforts of the Iranian people in demanding that their voice be heard and that their vote count. But any attempt at “seizing the opportunity afforded by the crisis” for our benefit would be a shameful and harmful exercise and just another example of the U.S. throwing its weight around in places where it is not invited nor welcome to do so. I am grateful that we now have someone in the White House who seems to recognize the fact that people are different, cultures are different and that the U.S. must learn to respect that fact and “no se meta con” the affairs of others.  Rather than weakness, a decision to not get involved is a sign of wisdom.