When President Obama was elected in 2008 I hoped to hear two things in his first inaugural. The first was the word “revolution.” After the Bush presidency and its foreign policy fiascoes, as well as a financial crisis boondoggle, a call for revolution, I thought, was needed.
He made no such call and the tepidness of his first inaugural address preceded a competent, intelligent, cool but often status quo administration.
The second thing I hoped to hear was a call for small and kind action. I wanted the president to call on us to be better neighbors, starting with a simple hello.
Go out and shake someone's hand and introduce yourself to someone you do not know. Meet someone you have not met before. If you voted for me, talk to someone who voted against me. If you did not vote for me and despair at hearing my voice now, speak to someone who did vote for me.
But don't talk politics, talk sports. Just say hi. Tell a stranger something about your family or your plans or just that you like their lawn.
Walk across the street or down the hall at work. Say hello to someone on the bus. It will be a little awkward and I do not suggest this will settle any of our political divides. But we could use a day of reminding each other that though we vote as Republican and Democrat and Independent, we live as neighbors and Americans.
We can get back to arguing the day after tomorrow. But tomorrow, say hi to someone you don’t know. Be kind and polite. We will not be worse off if we all do this.
At the time I thought something like this might help America.
I was reminded of that watching an interview from about ten years back with historian David McCullough, who died today. McCullough wrote a bunch of best-selling books about American history and in the interview, he laments the lack of historical knowledge among young people. This he blamed on all us adults before saying: "Bring back dinner.”
I love that plan.
Even as someone who can't cook a thing, who eats out far too often, and who believes restaurants and cafes are part of a vital future because cooking is work that cannot be outsourced I am all for the idea that we back dinner, which I think means “family dinner.”
But those at your dinner need not be related. Just make sure there's a head at the table, someone sitting to gently oversee the discussion or who speaks a little too much as you eat. Or make sure the table is round. Assign someone to tell a story or read a page from a book by McCullough or some other reliable source. No proselytizing, no campaigning. Just a few minutes of information before digging it.
Set an extra seat for someone you don't know or who could use a meal and it will be all the better.
Practiced once a week (or even once a month) as national mandate it might be revolutionary.