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Show The Daily Utah Chronicle. Oneni Pas Two hear America smriiiling 1 ' we hardly knew ye by fes O ' or-Jim- my, k 4 JEFF HOWREY "We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, ell hang seperately." "Benjamin Hancock, July 4, 1116 Franklin, shall to John u-- I feel good about America. And, frankly, I'm surprised I feel that way. A few years ago I was much less enthusiastic about this country. (Pardon me while I indulge in a rehash of my particular version of the It won't take long, I promise.) disillusionment My began when I came within a random of number lottery being forced to fight a war no one was or to able, convince me was any thing more than a willing, misguided exercise in political force feeding on an international scale. Disillusionment became distrust as I wan bed. horrified, others asking the same questions as I, being answeed with bullets and bludgeons at such unlikely battlesites as Kent State and Chicago. Finally, distrust gave way to outright disgust as the American Dream deteriorated intoa Rascal's Scheme at the hands of an unprincipled President who insisted the Constitution was nothing more than a mere plaything, political putty to be molded to fit the whims of whatever demagogue was fortunate enough to Ik in xjwcr. Enough of this. You get the picture, right? Just another angry young man singing Country Joe's "One, two. thtee, whatta we fightin' for?" while playing a guitar plastered with "IMPEACH NIXON" bumper stickers (I offer no excuses, only hindsight apologies, for the complete lac k o originality demonstrated in my rebellious jxse.) Anyway, there was a time when I found it literally impossible to speak of this country in iosiiive terms. Yet now, a few short years later, I find myself mildly enthused. (But just mildly, mind you. I still haven't done anything overly patriotic, like register to vote.) Why the turnaround? Part of it, of course, is due to the fact that sex ial situations have improved considerably there is simply less to get mad long-haire- about now. There is no more Vietnam, now that our soldiers on the Canadian front have been allowed to come home. And the wounds of Watergate have healed, although there's still visible scar tissue. (For instance, although I don't consider myself to be the vengeful type, I've taken great delight in watching the legions of Watergaters marching off to prison. I was ac tually eaerf the other day as I watched John Mitchell being escorted to jail. Vengeful or not, I guess, it's hard not to despise an Attorney General-turneconvicted felon who once was in the habit of rattling off pronouncements like, "Urban unrest will be stopped as soon as people understand that the law will be enforced, that people who break the law will pay the price, even if some of them have to be killed." Oh, sweet irony.) So, anyway, in the more tranquil 70s I find myself feeling noticeably optimistic. And I don't think I'm alone. While traveling this summer throughout the Midwest the nation's heartland I picked up the unmittakeable feeling that a lot of folks in this country are feeling the same way I do. It is not an optimism that can necessarily be found in statistics like employment rates or the Gross National Product. It's just a gut feeling a "good vibration" as the Beach Boys put it. But I've picked up those vibrations from so many diverse people this summer that I think it's real. I hope it is, at least. d -- self-righteo- It was at a typically immaculate mid-Kans- as rest stop that! metCornbread Jack The following are short sketches of three such people a Kansas janitor, a Missouri preacher, and an Illinois barmaid who, while different from one another, are bonded together right now by the fact that they're all feeling good about America. These are only three. I have the suspicion there are millions more. Interstate 70--Kans- as Kansas is one of my favorite places. Although many who have driven east or west across this 400-mil- e pancake-fla- t prairie nightmare often speak of it in reserved to describe terminal illnesses, I really terms usually for the state. an have do affinity I think I like it for the same reasons I liked George McGovern and Rocky it is a classic underdog. The Kansas state government recently commissioned a study to determine why the state is such an unpopular place. It brought in an outside consulting firm and paid them close to $100,000 todeteimine if there was any way the Mate could impiove its image enough so that some of the tout is! dot kits that annually past through umpteen-milliothe stale bound (or the Rockies or the Oatks might be corralled. No way . In fact, the film's lesearc h indicated that not only is the state's image dismally low among outsiders, but Kansas Residents also have a very low opinion of the plate. It's easy to see why. humid in the Arc tit like in the winter and summer months, at its ptettiest Kansas oflets nothing more t asiou.illv scenic than miles and miles of wheaificlds of In some at coin. let intctiupted n -- unlx-arabl- : j ill s Undcistandahlv. such sights get a little old after a bundled miles or so. No one will argue that agticultute is invaluable to society, but alter a few hours of staling at endless rows of brown stalks, images of a starving wot Id 'waiting impatiently fot Kansas wheat offer little consolation to a driver in the midst of one of the most lxiing stretches of in Kansas. road known to man But its t litits oveilook the one atea in whit h the state is far superioi to am other Kansas undoubtedly offers the most attrac live and apjx-alinsystem of roadside rest stops in the nation. It could be that their overwhelming appeal is simply enhanced out of x)i portion by the drudgery of their setting, but. for my money, the state's crystal-cleagraffiti free washrooms which are conveniently located every 40 interstate miles or so, are the best the country has to offer. I think the test slops are the state's way of apologizing to It's like they're saying, "Gee. we're really where we live, sorry you hav e to drive through this hell-holit make as bearable as x)ssible." but Itxk, we're trying to s It was at a typically immaculate rest stop that I met Cornbread Jac k. mm A r.--- n, non-resident- fVi,;;;.,;-- hJlw 4 ' s. e mid-Kansa- As I was coming out of the small building that housed the washrooms and information center, I saw him a few yards away trimming flowers around a water fountain. I went up to offer my appreciation of the immaculate condition of the grounds. "Thanks," he said, as a smile creased the weathered face leather which had been smoothly textured like high-grad- e the 70 of midwestern of to extremes by years exposure weather. "I hardly ever get any compliments. It's kind of a thankless job." As he extended a hand towards a nearby bench in an invitation to join him for a rest, I asked what his position was. "Well, my official title is 'Kansas State Highway nonsense like Sanitation Officer' or some old a that. Actually, I'm just plain janitor by the name of " 'Cornbread Jack.' As we sat down. Jac k pushed his cap back off his tanned face and scratched his snow-whit- e forehead, the summet trademark of midwestern working men, before continuing: "My pappy, whose name was Jack, too, started calhn' me 'Cornbread' during the Depression. It was a big treat for us to have cornbread bac k then, and whenever we did I guess I musta got all excited 'cause I liked it so much. So he started callin' me 'Cornbread.' It musta fit me 'cause every body still calls me that." As he bent down to dislodge a clump of sod from his high-to- p Red Wing workshoes, I asked how long he had worked high-falluti- n' rWf - ' !) ' fi I I m liitiwuiw VnA f I4 wastes- as a t- j "I Jmm- - state janitor. "Oh, only 'bout five years. Used to be a farmer. Farmed this land right 'round here, 's matter of fact." Why had he quit? He flashed a quick smile at the of my before reckon "I question explaining: you don't know much about farmin', do you? "For one thing, I quit "cause I was gettin too old. But I probably woulda had to, anyway. "You see, farmin's just a losin' proposition anymore. You have to farm at least a thousand acres if you hope to make any money, and even then it's more risky than throwin' rocks at a polecat. "The basic problem is that farmers get caught in an economic double standard they sell" their' product wholesale but they buy their equipment retail. It's tough to beat that kinda situation. "I think the basic problem's been government meddling. The government's always tryin' to fix up what don't need no fixin.' They won't leave well enough alone. "One year it's price supports, the next year they're payin' you not to farm certain acres. But every year it's the same result they do more harm than good. "Look where government meddlin's gotten us this year wheat prices are lower than they've been in a decade. Everybody's havin' to sell at prices lower than what it cost 'em to raise the dang stuff!" city-boy-naiv- |