An outside look inside the American Pysche

Author: Leslie Lim

A couple of weeks ago, I found myself at Philadelphia International Airport, wandering through its long halls and perusing its shops, attempting to kill time during a five hour layover between my flight from Vermont to Barcelona. Starting from one of the domestic terminals, I leisurely strolled for fifteen minutes until I reached the international terminal. It was an uneventful fifteen minutes. But what grabbed my attention was the enormous change in scenery. The Chick-Fil-As of the food court and crowded mall-like atmosphere gave way to high ceilings, surrounded by glass and modern art installations, with large, comfortable waiting areas to boot. It was all part of the same airport; even with the schizophrenic change in decor.

A friend once told me that you could tell a lot about a country by its airport bathrooms. Now, the bathrooms I vaguely remember weren't anything of note, but the change that came with the crossover from domestic to international was striking. What kind of image was the airport trying to project? What kind of image was it projecting? It seemed like the domestic side was content to mimic the many domestic terminals nationwide. Stereotypical foodcourt here, stressed families there, discount airlines over there. The international side, on the other hand, seemed eager to impress its worldly visitors, trying to join the big boys club of glass encrusted, luxurious modernity.

It is the same airport, fulfilling different expectations and needs. Going out on a limb perhaps, I wonder if we could extrapolate this observation to America as a whole. Its domestic image, which it projects inwards, is warm, homey, family-oriented, sprinkled with the values of simple living (or at least it tries to be). America's international stance is colder, sterner, one to respect and emulate with a "Don't Mess" attitude. This has been especially true since September 11, as you can see how much more of a frosty reception America gives to its colleagues. For a country this complex, it might seem natural to have multiple personalities. Defining the typical American is certainly a difficult thing to do.

But I wonder if the many attitudes of America need to be so polarizing? Protective of its own people and fearful of the rest? I think such thinking would be a disservice and disrespectful to domestic America by assuming that it didn't care about life beyond its borders. Sure, there are those who might not want to hear about all the sad stories that seem to flash continuously across our TV screens. But I hope that for every person who switches the TV off, there is somebody who turns the volume up.

And as for America's global role and its cooler terminals, I'm not criticizing it per se; I just want to make sure they don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. It's one thing to protect the country and another to make all visitors (even students like me) feel like a terrorist. Retreating into a fetal position after being hit, America has predictably been wary and defensive. I'm hopeful that balance is on its way. Its global image might still be a on the hostile side, but its roles as ambassador and humanitarian should not be forgotten either.

Perhaps I'm reading too far into this airport. Perhaps the Chick-Fil-A is just a Chick-Fil-A, and not some symbol of a larger inner conflict in this country's image. But I think this is something to chew on. As an international and an idealist, I'd like to err on the side of hope. Afterall, these two terminals ARE part of the same airport.