Hello everyone,
The author of this blog, who likes to describe himself as a chronicler (which he is in the true sense of the word), is pleased that you are looking in. Hopefully it is and remains interesting enough throughout the episodes that you don't stop. Comments and grumbles welcome. There's always room for improvement!
Fragmentary world exploration was once one of his favorite radio shows. Random places around the world were presented in narrative form and with audio documents. A wonderful program that, strangely enough, is not even mentioned in the omniscient network; it will surely lie dormant in the station's archives. Its character fits in with how the chronicler likes to travel the world. Combined with his favorite form of exercise, namely with a racing bike and light luggage. He has been to all points of the compass - see Figure 1.
Figure 2 Silbermond: It´s better to travel light
"There is always a story to tell" (The Jaiy twins). Two black dancers in a BBC clip clip tell the chronicler that this sentence comes from their mother. Yes. And if you make an effort, it can even be amusing or at least interesting. He takes it as encouragement for this tour and he wants to make an effort. The story he wants to tell is about the people of the United States who cross his path on his journey with light luggage and give him information on a specific question: Trump, Biden or Jesus. What kind of president do you want anyway?
The idea came from a precursor to such a trip to the UK, where the chronicler was driven by curiosity: Brexit? For or against? It turned out to be exhausting but also an extremely charming way to travel. Asking the people you meet whose side they are on. No one refused. Rather, detailed reasons were given (including a kiss). But this trip was for private pleasure and not so much for public consumption. An article appeared in the daily newspaper and the chronicler kept a blog. It is a presidential election in the USA this year and it has a particular impact on the world. That's why the chronicler would like a wider audience. Let's see what happens.
He took the route once across the USA, roughly along the 38th parallel. Once from east to west. Along this imaginary line, he not only wants to observe the landscape, architecture, traffic and stores, feel potholes and mountains, smell vegetation and exhaust fumes, no, he wants to talk to people because he is curious about why they are in the mood they are in. Some don't like immigrants, hate Democrats and want to elevate the biblical story of creation to official truth in this land of infinite progress, others pettily pee on the leg of (former) President Trump, have created the term white trash for the somewhat out-of-shape white rural population and unapologetically climb over the homeless people camped out everywhere to pack their overpriced organic groceries in two organic paper bags tucked into each other at Whole Foods. There's plenty of everything.
The chronicler is not the kind of racing bike ultra who crosses the continent in a time limit of 300 hours in Race-across-America. Firstly, he is too old, secondly, he is not an athlete in general, and thirdly, this does not suit his plans. His dreams and abilities are distributed differently. It is one thing to be able to torture oneself and another to enjoy it in turn and to be curious about the world in both cases. Thanks to good friends, he has learned both, so he will definitely struggle but also enjoy himself and is already looking forward to arriving in the world's cities. While the competitors in the peletons of the big bike races are overwhelmed with adrenaline before the finish, for the chronicler it is more the arrival in a big city. There, where the blue line on the handlebars shows him the way, which he has to fight his way through the rushing traffic with its many lanes and its different means of transportation with the diverse characters behind their steering wheels. And always with self-confidence and head held high. Don't mess around, because then you'll end up under the wheels.
New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas and San Francisco make his mouth water. Less so the prospect that he won't be able to eat beef meatballs between cardboard rolls on the breakfast-board-hard saddle forever. He has twenty days. The blue line that the chronicler will be cranking is therefore not a continuous 5000 km long, it consists of sections - see Figure 2 and will give him enough contact with the country. He will bridge the intermediate sections by Greyhound bus, train or plane. This requires sophisticated planning and is somewhat stressful because the chronicler is bound to timetables, which must be adhered to if you want to get anywhere.
Figure 2 Along the road 38.
In the old England, the question was simple: Brexit, for or against? Everything else was self-evident. But what did the chronicler want to ask the bus driver, the lady at reception, the hairdresser or the farmer from whom he refills his water bottle? What would be short and self-explanatory enough to give his counterpart an idea of what he was talking about? And on top of that, would a window open that would give him an insight and answer why he is the way he is? To get personal answers, explanations that go beyond what the chronicler is presented with by the Tagesschau, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Der Spiegel or other news sources. And incidentally, using this question as a flashlight, to catch a glimpse of a complete stranger. A person he won't forget because he wants to report on them. He doesn't have time for long small talks, they're not his thing either. What two or three keywords would indicate the universes to which his counterpart is dedicated and at the same time encourage him enough to confide in him?
Trump, Biden, Jesus?!
Trump or Biden, black or white. Who are you for? Can't the chronicler tease out a little more from his counterpart? Isn't there another source in everyone that influences their actions in society? Isn't there more to people than just a commitment to one of these two poles? Doesn't everyone have feelings deep inside that go beyond this? Feelings that reach across, reach across to the others, the rich, the conservatives, the stoners, the gun carriers, the nerds, the children, the farmers, the soldiers and the minimum wage earners, the worshippers of God and the many fat people. The chronicler is convinced of this and therefore introduces his symbol of human love into the question game: Jesus. He will simply ask about these three and see what comes out of it. And to allow for nuances, he will give the other person the following option: If he is allowed to put together the new president himself, what percentage of the three personalities should he end up with? And that in twenty days, ten of them in the saddle, the rest for the journey there and back and the intermediate routes.
Thank you for following me so far.
And special thanks to Lea Büsing for the review, preparation and publication at the Todtenhausen home base.
