The Good People of California

California is a multi-ethnic melting pot.  At the playground near my Aunt Robin’s house, I realized that representatives of many of the earth’s races were there with us – two Asian parents played with their small son, two African American boys swung on the swings, and two Hispanic boys (likely with significant Aztec or Mayan heritage) played basketball. 




I’m sure there is racial tension in the state, but the most significant conflict we saw was in the parking lot of an upscale grocery store in the Coastal Range where an angry white man with a bloody nose and a hatchet faced off against two other white men, with various bystanders nearby trying to help calm things down.  Fortunately the situation had deescalated by the time the police arrived. 




To the contrary, I’ve been struck by the cross-ethinicity kindness of strangers.  On the beach in Southern California Miriam gave evidence that the call of nature meant we needed to visit the porta potty – her evidence is to start walking up the beach with a purpose… Woe to the parent of failed to heed the cue and follow.




Several generations of an extended Latino – heritage family were grilling marsh mallows and other foods in one of grills at the top of the beach.  They thought Miriam wanted one of the mallows… which she probably did at least a bit since she rarely doesn’t like getting candy.  And offered her one.  Helped us cook it. 

 
Down the beach we reached the heavily traversed porta potties.  A Latino man in his 40s or 50s thought the floor of the Jon was in such bad condition that he offered to loan me his flip flops (I was barefoot) to help protect my feet while I helped Miriam heed the call of nature.