One of the fun things to do in New York in September is going to The Feast de San Gennaro in Little Italy. It helps if you have seen the Godfather movies.
There is a lot of good Italian food, and music, and a few processions, and a blood donation drive, and I usually donate a few bucks for disabled vets, and you see a lot of Italian and American flags, and if you never had a cannoli before in your life, you should definitely try one here, or buy some, and then eat them at home — while watching the Godfather movies.
Dean and I had a good time eating a hot dog and visiting a nearby bookstore and then having a coffee outside a church, listening to a brass band playing classics like the Theme from Godfather. I returned a few days later, to take pictures and maybe have a coffee.
But this time, I ended up a little outside the actual street fair on Mulberry — for some reason, I walked to the corner of Mott and Hester Street, where some event seemed to just have happened. A number of people were holding something rolled up, which I figured had to be the flag of the United States, a giant one, and as people on a rooftop nearby were removing ropes, I deduced that the flag must have been hanging on that building — six floors high. It would have been nice if I had gotten a nice photo of the flag on that building, but oh, well I was too late for that. So I took a few pictures, just in case, and wondered what they would do next with this huge flag. Certainly you do not transport the flag of the United States rolled up like a carpet.
The people holding the rolled up flag moved to the far corner of the street, and when it dawned to be that I was about to witness the unfurling of the flag, I took a video clip, of course. The whole thing turned into a truly breathtaking, and heartbreakingly beautiful scene, right on the border between Little Italy and Chinatown, with people of all races holding the flag, and bystanders rushing to come and hold the flag as it was spreading. I had found a nice spot where I would not be in the way, and filmed this wonderful, only partly planned scene. Clearly, nobody had assigned people to hold the flag; whoever had came up with the idea for this event had just counted on random members of the public to take part. Apparently, whoever had organized this knew to rely on people just caring enough.
Well, I filmed until the flag reached me, and there was nobody standing near me who could fill this gap — but me. I slipped the camera into my pocket, grabbed the flag, and now I was part of it.
More and more people came to hold it, and I vaguely wondered whether I, as a resident alien, would be elegible to hold the flag at all. But at this moment, the only thing that counted was that I was there to fill the gap, and I was willing and able to do it.
We did a great job learning the rules on the job — like the one that the flag must never touch the ground, and so some people checked underneath to make sure this did not happen. A Catholic priest held a speech about patriotism, loving your country, and letting other nations love their own countries as well. I do not remember that much of the actual words.
After that speech, it was time to fold it properly. In order to fold it thirteen times, we had to hold it real tight, and the whole thing was definitely a bit like a team-building exersize, only much more natural, and happy.
Nobody cared the least about whether I was entitled to take part in this — I did, and that was good enough. In many regards, this is what makes this city, and this country great. If you are willing to be one of us, if you are contributing, you are welcome, and there is a place for you here.
As the flag was being folded into smaller and smaller pieces, the people were freed of their task again, and once the flag was actually neatly folded up as a triangle, we gave ourselves a good applause. Spontaneous applause on the street is rare in Europe — it is one thing that reminds me that I am actually in a new country here.
So, I now had taken part in a military fold of the US flag, and not some cutsie 3 by 5 index card flag, either, but a 92 pound giant flag!
Right now, I do feel like I am on the forefront of something valuable to all mankind. Nobody asked whether I was entitled to take part, my help was welcomed and accepted. I feel like I just passed the last in a series of unofficial tests.
If you are not lucky enough to live in this city — do come visit us. Regain your belief in mankind.
As soon as I got home I showed Dean the pictures I had taken. And he made a video of me showing them. The pictures you see above are frames from his video.