Epaulet

I'm currently sitting at a desk in downtown New York City. This is the jumping-off point for the current weekend retreat for the a cappella group I'm in at school. There's a lamp, that does not work, in my face; the apartment is piled high with, well, stuff; and I'm slowly remembering what it was that I disliked or otherwise was bemused to the point of annoyance by other members of the group.

But I digress.

One member of our group, who shall remain nameless, has, what I refer to as an hairpaulet. Do not confuse this with an hairy back as that is not what we are speaking of here. His one shoulder is covered in hair. Just one. An hairpaulet. He was just walking back to his sleeping area (there's 8 of us in an apartment for 3, maybe 4) and I saw it in all its glory. It really is an incredible display of genetics gone haywire.

On an unrelated note, I also just read an article that disturbed me more than the sight of the aforementioned hairpaulet. It was an ABC News Online publication that described the pamphlets that the State Department is now distributing in an attempt to defuse negative stereotypes of American tourists. What saddened me was the discussion thread that followed the article. There was a post that said, in a more ridiculous and enraged tone, that people who lived close to the United States, and by this I believe he meant the rest of the world, should do all they could to accommodate us because we are the only remaining superpower in the world and because of that, everyone should bend to our will.

I nearly got sick.

Who can still think that we are the last superpower left on the planet? We are entering an age where the Davids will begin to topple the Goliaths very quickly. China is fast approaching superpower status in terms of economy, or will when they finally admit to themselves that they are no longer the stronghold of Maoist Socialism. Any country with a well-trained and dedicated military, imagine a fundamentalist nation that honors martyrdom, and access to nuclear weaponry is a threat. We are so absorbed in the power we held over the world 30-40 years ago that we can't see that we don't have it anymore. The world is not an oyster for us to pull the pearl from.

I look at my friends bustling around the apartment and wonder where we're all going to be in this rapidly mutating geopolitical scenario. I hope that we aren't under the same delusion when we finally get into the world, otherwise things are going to look as bad as a patch of mangy hair on your shoulder. Shave your hairpaulets and get out there. Just be nice about it.