Jet Age Internationalism
Remember when "It's a Small World" was a cute fairytale?
The resignation of John Bolton is as good an excuse as any to share Sandra Tsing Loh's delightful reminiscence of the innocent internationalism I remember so well as part of my 1960s childhood. (I revisited this passage while researching my next Atlantic column, on airline glamour, but the quotation didn't make it into the final version.) From Depth Takes a Holiday
International--what a guileless, friendly world. As a kid in the sixties, I remember drinking up everything international: Expo 67! UNICEF! The five intertwining rings of the Olympics! International...House of Pancakes! "Come in!" international people always seemed to be saying. 'We don't care where the hell you're from. Have some flapjacks!"
Ah, when "looking like the U.N." was a compliment, suggesting a nicely harmonious mix of costumes and skin colors--Star Trek with smoother foreheads.