Choosing Against Our Interests

Posted on November 16, 2024November 15, 2024 by Pete Schloss

(I took the above picture during a 2018 protest in Santiago Chili. The government was using “non-lethal” bullets to suppress protests. However, the ammunition permanently blinded hundreds of people. This demonstration was led by very brave women.)

I’ve survived. The bunker door is mostly open now and peering out I see that life hasn’t really changed that much. I’ve tried watching the news again, but only local and in small bits. It will be a while before I again find Steven Colbert’s political commentary funny. My vote for President was among the 48.1% cast, not the “other” 50.1%.

First an acknowledgement that democracy works. Nearly 150 million Americans set aside their daily routines to make their voices heard. Second, gratitude to the thousands of nameless election workers that made voting possible.

The margin of victory was less than 3 million votes. That is approximately the population of Chicago. Once again, the Electoral College result, 312 to 226, discloses how disconnected this historic dinosaur is from the popular vote. I find further criticism with the length of United States political campaigns, the unconscionable amount of money spent on the campaigns, and the disproportionate influence given to wealth in selecting representation in this country. Those are perhaps subjects for posts at another time.

Another 2018 protest I was present for in Chili. This one focused on economic condition.

My self-imposed post-election introspection has given me an opportunity to seek understanding and peace with the outcome. During the weeks leading up to the election, Christine and I often found ourselves wondering, “How can they consider voting so contrary to their own interests!?!”

The answer is that I was applying my own understanding of what was important, not theirs. Perhaps their interests included elevating the voice of a contrarian. Shaking up a system that hasn’t worked for them. Expressing frustration with a government that to them favors “foreigners” over “Americans”. Declaring dissatisfaction with rising prices and tailing wages. And believing promises (real or not) that were addressed to them.

Just as I looked upon them in the pre-election weeks as being voters against their own interests, it occurs to me that in post-election America there may be 48.1 percent of the electorate now wishing against their own interests, just to say, “I told you so.”

100 percent of America should wish for a strong economy. An efficient and fair system of immigration. Price stability and wages that provide the possibility of upward mobility. Safe streets and safe schools. An efficient justice system that fairly punishes the guilty and quickly frees the innocent. Stability in the world order… All of this and more without regard for which candidate was successful in the election.

I have friends who count themselves among the 50.1%. When they voice complaints, criticisms, and worse about the 48.1%, I know that they are not thinking of me. I know that they would not apply those assertions to me personally. Conversely, as a friend I would never apply to them the complaints, criticisms, and worse often spoken about the 50.1% by those of the 48.1%.

Putting the face of a friend on “them” is one road to an understanding that “they” and “we” are often “us”.

Peace Everyone. Pete

PS. In 1995 we hosted 16-year-old Svetlana as a year-long exchange student from Slovakia. She remains in our hearts a daughter to us. In 1998 we arranged a reunion of our exchange students in Prague. Christine and I offered to pay the room and board of any of the students who could join us for the 5 days. What they did not know was that I had booked 3 large prison cells in the former Communist prison. $13 per person, per night, breakfast included!

Svetlana, along with her older brother Alex and 8 other students joined us. Her parents and little brother were there as was the mother of another of the students. They opted for more conventional (comfortable) lodgings.

In 2018 we enjoyed a wonderful visit with Svetla and her husband and children in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Yesterday, we spent a delightful afternoon here in Kansas City with Alex, his 12-year-old daughter Ellen, and his friend Dasha. Alex is an attorney practicing in Prague, the Czech Republic. He was also an exchange student in Kansas City, spending 1993 with the Harper family in North Kansas City. Alex came back for a visit to attend his host-brother’s wedding.

Earlier this year, our 1992 German exchange student son Andre and his family visited us.

They now reside in Washington DC where Andre is stationed at the German Embassy as an economist. We hope to have them join us next February in Colorado.

Later in 2025 we will be in Norway for a month. Our plans include traveling to Svalbard Island, the northernmost civilian settlement in the world, located about 650 miles from the North Pole. While in Oslo we will visit our Norwegian exchange student daughter (1994), Hege and her family.

Christine is fond of saying that a country is “foreign” until it has a face. These people and many others dear to us, are faces that have made the world smaller, more personal, and less foreign. We would do well within our country to do the same between the 48.1% and 50.1%

Home!

Posted on July 3, 2024July 3, 2024 by Pete Schloss

Dear Friends and Followers.

On June 29^th, after a grueling travel day, Britton and I landed in Kansas City and fell into the embraces of Christine, Renee’ and Britton’s siblings. It is quite possible that this one day was the highlight of Britton’s trip.

We flew First Class aboard Air France, as a Delta Airline partner, from Barcellona to Paris. Although seating was 3 seats on each side of the isle throughout the plane, in the small allocated “First-Class” section the center seats were left empty. We were afforded complimentary beverages, mine of the adult variety, and an excellent light meal. In these days of “enhanced security” it is a wonder that table service in First Class includes real metal utensils, including a knife. I guess that terrorists are relegated to Economy. The flight was unremarkable at just under 2 hours. The best was yet to come.

Our bags had been checked through to Minneapolis. So, except for the lingering uncertainty of another “rouge backpack” incident as was experienced at the start of our trip, we were unencumbered.

Non-European Union citizens were required to submit to passport verification, but otherwise proceeding to our next gate was seamless. With our First-Class tickets (one more time, yeah Christine!!) we qualified for entry into any one of the many exclusive Air France lounges which were located throughout the sprawling expanse of Charles De Gaulle Airport. Unfortunately, our layover was too short to take advantage of that perk.

The plane, this time operated by Delta, was being readied for the cross-Atlantic flight away from the terminals. We traveled by shuttle to the wide body plane’s remote location and boarded up a mobile stairway much as was done in the 1960’s and is still done for some dignitaries. Delta One customers (that was us) turned left upon entry, and the rest of the passengers, including “ordinary” First Class passengers went stage right.

Instead of seats, Delta One provides each passenger with a private “suite”.

There are real noise cancelling headphones, a comforter and pillow, slippers, a hand stitched (ours to keep) travel pouch containing toiletries and other small items to enhance comfort, a large screen (by airplane standards) television, and best of all a seat with power controls that adjust all the way from full upright to a fully extended bed. Our Airbus A330 had a total passenger capacity of 281. We were among the 29 who enjoyed the premium level of Delta One comfort and service. In surveying the other 27 passengers I wondered which might be celebrities, retired sports icons, or captains of industry. There were two that caught my eye, one with the eerily familiar face of a character actor and the other an older Black gentleman who was well over 6’6”.

As far as I was concerned, Michael was the real star of the flight. He was our personal assistant. Michael and his partner exclusively served the needs of the 29 Delta One passengers. He was polished in his manners and attentiveness much as one might expect the valet of royalty. “Another cocktail Sir?”… “Was the lamb prepared to your satisfaction?”… (I really ordered lamb)

Britton was in travel heaven! I remarked that he might not have a repeat of this travel experience for many, many years. “Yeah, like maybe never!” was his reply.

As special as all this was, we were still confined in a long metal tube along with 300+ passengers and crew, speeding across the Atlantic Ocean at over 500 miles per hour and nearly 8 miles over the surface of the Earth. If God had meant humans to fly… oh, never mind. I just wanted to get home to my wife and orthopedic physician, in that order.

The greeting at the airport was hurried but loving and welcome. Renee and her crew were heading to Florida in the morning by car. Within 24 hours Britton was transitioning from travel heaven to its equivalent in purgatory. He would have less than 8 hours of down time in over 48 hours of being “on the road”. Poor guy!

My doctor’s appointment was accommodatingly scheduled for Monday. It went well. I now have appointments for an MRI, followed immediately by an epidural injection. These are the next steps in a conservative exploration of options. Additionally, I will be seeing my chiropractor and massage therapist this week.

In the next week I hope to put my thoughts and “pen” to work on writing a reflection of this extraordinary experience. I repeat, I am not disappointed with the outcome. Britton has repeatedly voiced his intention to return and finish what he and I started. He intends to include his mother and one or more siblings. They seem just as excited to be a part of his continuing pilgrimage as he is. In a Newtonian sense I have put Britton in motion, and an object in motion will remain in motion until otherwise acted upon. I can only hope that life does not interfere with his spirt of pilgrimage. That is out of my hands.

Love to you all. Peace. Pete

Denial and Acceptance. Burgos, Spain.

Posted on June 27, 2024June 27, 2024 by Pete Schloss

Dear Christine, Renee’, Family, and Followers.

“ God grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change…”

Some of you have sensed an undercurrent in my posts. Reading between the lines you have reached out to me to see if I am OK.

First of all, thank you for your concern. Secondly, I am not OK. I have done my best to put a publicly optimistic and positive spin on our experience. The brave front began crumbling more than a week ago. It collapsed about three days ago.

I reached out to Christine and Renee’ and told them that I could not go any further. The morning pain, leg spasms, and limitations on movement have become extreme. I have seen how it has become unsettling for Britton to see my struggle. One morning he voiced, “It’s getting worse isn’t it Grandpa. Are you going to have to have surgery?”

This is not just a matter of listening to my body, but also of being responsible for the care of my Grandson.

…”the courage to change the things I can…”

I have secured 1st class train tickets from Burgos to Barcelona. We depart Thursday afternoon for the 6 hour trip. We have a hotel room reserved at the airport. I was able to cancel our pre-arranged accommodations in Santiago and Barcelona without charge.

I was able to exchange out July 15th tickets to visit the Sagrada Familia for June 28th tickets. This despite the tickets originally being non-refundable and non-modifiable.

Christine was able to change our return flight from July to this weekend. Somehow she got us upgraded from Premium Select seats to 1st Class/Delta One. The seats make into beds. The upgrade cost… $35 for each of us. Christine is a magician.

…”and the Wisdom to know the difference.”

It has been said that with age comes wisdom. Perhaps. In my case with age comes a well used and occasionally abused spine. That is the price of a life well lived.

Pilgrimage in general and the Camino in particular is first and foremost a journey, not just a destination.

Britton and I have shared a remarkable time together, almost a month in France and Spain.

I have witnessed him rapidly grow into full partnership with me on the Camino. He and I have covered nearly 300km together. Most exciting for me is to hear him voice his desire and intention to return and complete the journey, perhaps with his Mother and one or more siblings. He has become a real Peregrino, a 15 year old Camino zealot.

I am at peace with my decision and I have no regrets. Everything that is truly important has been achieved. The seeds of pilgrimage have been planted. How they grow, how they mature, and what fruit is finally harvested are matters that were never in my hands.

Love to all of you. Peace. Pete.

Burgos, Day One

Posted on June 26, 2024June 26, 2024 by Pete Schloss

Dear Christine and Renee’.

We arrived in Burgos yesterday, Tuesday.

The Hotel Norte y Londres is as convenient, comfortable, and welcoming as ever.

I have unhesitatingly recommended it to pilgrims along the way, a few of which have chosen to be guests here instead of lodging at one of the many albergues here in Burgos.

Burgos is a town where one should pause, rest, and reflect.

Teresa is still managing the hotel. She greeted me and welcomed Britton as if we were dear friends, perhaps even family.

She still remembers you and me from 2013 and me from 2022. I commented to Britton that it is amazing that someone would remember us from just a couple of brief encounters over the years. His reply, “No it isn’t”.

Teresa pulled a few strings and arranged for me to have a massage today.

After we checked in, I left Britton to shower, rest, and connect with his friends and his family. I gathered up the laundry and was off to a nearby laundromat.

We were past due for clean clothes.

Apparently one should not wash pets in the machines. 🤣

Monday and Tuesday have been very reminiscent of last days on the Camino. Christine, recall how often in the past we would turn a corner and virtually walk into dear people with whom we had made a deep connection.

On this Camino Britton has become his own person rather than walking in my shadow. He personally feels the momentary joy of these chance encounters, and upon parting the sadness of not knowing whether he will ever see these good people again.

The countries that these Camino friends represent include: The Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, France, New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Poland. There are others.

This is heady stuff for any adult let alone a 15-year-old.

Yesterday we toured the Cathedral.

The expression on Britton’s face said it all, awe inspiring. These few pictures hardly do the Cathedral justice.

Looking straight up at the main tower and the intricate stonework

The treasury holds a seemingly endless collection of precious items.

The crypt and final resting place of a long departed royal couple.

This chamber displays the portraits of every bishop in the Cathedral’s history

The *Papamoscas* clock. A mechanical automaton that moves at the hour and quarter hours

Witek and Kasia, our Camino friends from Poland, are also staying here at the hotel. Kasia is trying to work through painful tendon issues with her ankle. At the moment further progress for them on the Camino is an unknown.

We met them at the Cathedral for our tour and later for dinner at a highly regarded restaurant near the hotel.

Our plan had been to enjoy dining on the outdoor terrace, but thunderstorms drove us inside. The rain did not depreciate the evening experience with these wonderful people.

Britton’s dessert, an ice cream float with some (perhaps high octane) orange juice.

When dinner concluded they would not let me pay. The dinner was their treat and gift to our friendship.

They have spent significant time on the island of Malta. Their description and pictures are captivating. I think that you and I should explore this as a future destination, perhaps even meeting Witek and Kasia there!

As I write this, Britton is enjoying sleeping-in for the first time on this journey. I am enjoying writing this with the day yet to unfold rather than burning the midnight oil and shorting myself on needed sleep. It is still strange for me to imagine that while it is 8:30 in the morning here it is 1:30 AM in Kansas City.

I wish you restful sleep and sweet dreams. Love to you both. Peace. Dad

PS. Sarah at Ultreia Osteopatia y Acupuntura here in Burgos gave me a wonderful and pain relieving massage. Thank you Sarah and thank you Teresa for making the appointment for me!

Villafranca Montes de Oca

Posted on June 25, 2024June 26, 2024 by Pete Schloss

Dear Christine and Renee.

A short day today. Some clouds but mostly blue skies and pleasant temperatures.

We had a mostly uneventful hike and are staying tonight at the elegant Hotel-Albergue San Anton Abad.

You and I were here in 2013, but lodged in the Albergue. Remember that it snowed the next morning? No chance of that happening this time.

Britton and I are in the Hotel portion. Breakfast is included and late departure is permitted.

There is a pilgrim we have encountered periodically, Brenda from New Zealand. She is around my age, walking solo, and usually distinctive for her bright yellow-green attire, Think School Crossing Guard.

Britton and I stopped for a bite at a small cafe in an equally small village. On one of the outdoor tables I spotted a pair of bright yellow-green sunglasses. The proprietor didn’t know who they belonged to, and with his permission I took them, certain they were Brenda’s.

This is Brenda. She is not wearing her walking attire. We happen to see her at dinner.

I figured that we might see her in Burgos, but she is quite a speedy lady. As luck would have it she is staying here at the same rural hotel as us. Indeed, they were her glasses which she had given up as lost forever. My good deed for the day.

We also again got to walk with Rocío, the very pleasant Spanish lady from 2 days ago.