A Distinct Perspective

The next two days were pleasantly spent with a few people acting as my guides around Charleston. I needed new flipflops of course, and everyone seemed to work or have worked with food so many restaurants were sampled.

Cooper River Bridge

One thing I did need was credit. America had recently started doing prepaid cellphones (a few years behind England for sure!) And I was out of luck- no T-Mobile store anywhere Downtown. So I headed out on foot over the Cooper River Bridge. The City of Charleston plays host to 40,000 folks each year who arrive to participate in the Cooper River Bridge 10k run. From Athlete’s to everybody else, they all join in. Had I known this a day earlier I would have pedaled harder and joined in the event. Still, I walked the bridge as I felt my muscles would approve of some change of pace. It was roughly a 7 mile round trip, again without a map. Sometimes I just go and to hell with the possibilities. Just before I set foot on the bridge a friendly jogger bade me good luck. “It’s windy enough to blow you off” she smiled! Wasn’t lying either, but a bit of wind isn’t unfamiliar so walking at a decent angle of roughly 30 degrees I made the trip across. The wind must have been blowing steadily at Force 6, or 30mph for those who don’t speak Beaufort.

Once across I wandered in the direction of fancy, passing the local broadcast base, T-Mobile was nowhere to be seen. I chanced across Staples and hunted for a prepaid credit card which luckily they had. Errand complete I headed for the shade of Eurasia bar. Once inside I found that I was about the only customer there. The waitress convinced me that the food was good and she wasn’t wrong- best French Onion soup ever! It seems strange to me to find a little gem of a place like this among all the shops and stores of a commercial district/carpark.

The waitress’s name was Kerry and she was definitely bored and if I left she was in for a long afternoon, as she put it. Somehow we got to the fact that this was her last week in the job. She was heading for pastures new. Kerry is a classically trained violinist who’s art has fallen on hard times. The economic crisis has apparently hit America’s symphonies and she has found herself limited. So she decided to go back to school and study Law. (Note- when I say school, I am using her term for Uni) I asked her what had drawn her to Law.

Her reply was as honest as you could wish for- Money. She harboured an ambition to help people but I will be honest too. Every lawyer I have read about has made money first and then helped people once their livelihood and reputation is secure. I could see she knew this. I quoted Jack Dee in this respect:

Choose two of three:

• make lots of money
• enjoy what you do
• work within the law

She replied that she thought she would be happy. We both knew that she loved the violin. Law was a gamble. She used money to go on holiday with her sister, one year in Europe and the next in America. We had both been to Barcelona and so spoke of this wonderful city, but through different eyes.

What to make of this old American dream?

Firstly, I fixed on the impressionable, attractive, likeable and outgoing person she was. An easy smile and just the right amount of awkward in the first throes of chit-chat.

But what of her aims, so different to mine. Or were they? Sure we traveled through different methods, but comfort meant the same thing to both of us. I had simply forgone the comfort ideal in search of something else. 

So to the ideals then: Previously I would have thrown the idea of choosing money over happiness straight out the window. But I was here to see life through new eyes, so I tried. I liked the risk she was taking. As we spoke it became clear that it wasn’t a false ambition, but she was aiming high and believed in her potential to achieve this ambition she held. She justified well. Why then does it still sit badly with me? She wasn’t falling prey to the often stumbled upon ‘ambition that outweighs reality’, as demonstrated in talent shows that parade endlessly across our TV screens at the moment. Kerry had a plan that was carefully thought out. We were alike again. 

So what of money? It is simply currency. To see it in this term is to see the value of other currencies- the ability to survive on less of it, or to bargain using talents rather than a cheque (check). But money is easy. We value it because it revolves around a simple system regimented through a central government. Our society barters less because we have lost the skill. What has happened is that the FORM of currency has greater value than the skills it has replaced, which is why bankers are rich. And was her easy smile based on receiving a tip? I reckon so, at least at first. After a while she saw that an hour had passed swifter and more pleasantly than expected and she said as much.

Returning to the human issue between myself and Kerry, I’ll accept the answer that it comes down to who you are and how you see yourself. We were different and this is welcome. But such a conclusion will no doubt seem as unsatisfactory to you as it does to me. I will return to this issue after more thought. In truth this is a theme that can be found throughout the experience of travel, and deserves a fuller answer.

Of course on the way back I found that I had walked right past the T-Mobile store.

Downtown Charleston beyond the docks