The lady in the red plastic boots

In the late 90's Jeff Daniels stared in a wonderful movie about Geese. He noticed they had lost their desire to migrate and he did all he could to re-instill that instinct in them. In the beginning he would get them to follow him by wearing knee high rubber boots. The geese would follow him, and if they could see the boots they would keep following. He would weave around in patterns, walk straight forward - just about anything. They would see the boots and follow willingly. At the end of the movie of course, he takes flight in a small airplane and they fly along side of him, thus starting their migration process.

I'm in a country where people appear to have lost their way, well - that is how us westerners see it. We view the Chinese and want them to "be" different. How can they live in a country that oppresses it's people? How can they not stand up against a government and fight for freedoms? Freedoms that are so widely accepted in the west. Freedoms that my children don't recognize as just that, "freedoms.' For my boys, it is all they have ever known, they don't realize or recognize that it could be so much worse. In reality, they have no reason to, they have never spent a day of their lives hoping for, fighting for or grasping to hold onto the freedom they were born into.

For the Chinese, they have accepted, whether willingly or blindly, the life they were born into. Unfortunately, that is a life with few freedoms. It is a life where the people have lost their want to migrate. There are many in the younger generation who dream of a different life, who are making strides, who are swimming outside of the waters laid before them, but in the end - they are still stiffled.

I question the reality here. I see the life afforded me as a westerner, then in the same instance I see the life afforded the local. How can it be so vast, so different? How can a country treat it's visitor so differently from their own? So differently from those upon who's backs this country was built? It is said that "The foundations of the city lie on the bones of the people."

Maybe it is complaceancy. Pure and simple. I often find myself in a state of frustration thinking, "Wow! If this were my country I would stand up, I would make a difference." I think that I would never just 'do' because that is what is expected of me. I think that I would never just live without questioning or assume it is as it is supposed to be just because someone has told me it is so.

I am so happy for our freedoms. I am glad I can question. I am glad people can protest, can rally and stand up for change. I am glad that we can talk about our love of Jesus or our love of another deity without being imprisoned for those beliefs. I am glad that (for the moment - for I do fear things are changing in America) I can choose to fly, to set my path, to decide 'My' future with my government dictating my thoughts. I am happy American men allow women to walk beside them, not pushing them behind. I am glad we still find spitting in the streets less than desirable, and I am happy that my children have the opportunity to make change in the world.

Today when I reached the early morning traffic jam that occurs by the interchange I cross every morning, I was anxiously awaiting that "magical moment" when I could cross. I was mulling these thoughts over in my brain, thanking God that I am not one (if only in my own mind) who blindly follows. Just then, I looked over at the woman standing next to me. She was a tall slender Chinese woman, about 30. As I stood there, the traffic whizzing by at a deadly pace, I happened to glance down at her boots. She was wearing a beautiful pair of knee-high Red Plastic boots. Without consciously thinking about much of anything except her boots I paused to realize that suddenly I was on the other side of the road. I had blindly followed her boots as she walked across the busy morning intersection.

It was on the other side that I realized how I had so quickly fallen into a trance and had played 'follow the leader' without once giving pause to if it were safe or not. I did not question, I did not follow my own path. I followed the Red Plastic boots. It was then that I was suddenly aware of how we tread on dangerous ground, proclaiming one thing and doing another. I thought I wasn't a blind follower, but this proved me wrong - and it served as a wake up call.