Today I learned that I didn't actually know anything about the Unabomber.
It's a word I heard a lot on the radio here during the last week. It
rang a bell, in a mid-90s, America-is-all-the-way-over-there sort of a
way, but it wasn't until I looked it up just now that I discovered that
this case was entirely new to me. Not only that, but it is a staggering
story.
Living in a foreign country brings lots of
problems and differences to navigate although, being British, the USA is
a deceptively easy place to be. But there's no substitute for growing
up somewhere and acquiring the instinctive understanding of how past
events are woven in to the national fabric. I just don't have that here,
probably never will, and so comparatively recent stories like that of
Ted Kaczynski or the Tylenol Murders
(which are, quite rightly, referenced by US media without further
explanation) will always jar. And discovering them becomes an
unlooked-for reminder of my own alien status.
No comments:
Post a Comment