Gathering The World

Mostly the line moved easily.  A simple question or two (Where are you from?  Where are you going? What’s the purpose of your trip?) and a brief look at ID’s was sufficient to be waived on through.  We disrupted that sequence.

A little north of Watertown, NY was the border crossing from the US into Canada where any simple ID was usually acceptable – passports were unnecessary.  Customs agents asked us to leave our car and escorted us to separate buildings that looked like large construction office trailers with temporary steps, few windows and ballasted screw jacks to secure the trailers to the ground.  There were guards who had pistols, holstered, not brandished like one might see in other parts of the world.  While we waited, a thorough search of our car and our luggage took place.  July 20, 1976.

The item that drew the most interest was a recent invention that had caught on quickly – an AirPot, a pump type thermos for dispensing coffee without having to unscrew the cap.  This device was meticulously disassembled into a pile of components.  Each was visually examined.  The pile was returned to our car for me to reassemble at some undetermined later time. Everyone was courteous but businesslike.  No banter.  No jokes.  Just efficiently, thoroughly checking this young couple through the border into Canada took about an hour.  We were on our way without any explanation – just, “have a nice trip.”  Slightly shaken, confused and relieved, it felt a little like having been released.

The usual ease of passing through the US – Canadian border spoke to the close relationship of the two countries and their people.  Commerce flowed easily and significant disputes were rare.  Both countries had worked through the issues created by the flight of young men of military age north to avoid being drafted for service in Viet Nam.  But this was only four years after Black September, a militant group, had kidnapped eleven Israeli athletes from the Olympic Village a day before the opening of the Berlin games in 1972.  The event ended with the death of all eleven Israelis plus five out of the eight terrorists.  Jim McKay said, "They're gone.  They're all gone."  World security changed.

Security for the next Olympiad in Canada in 1976 began at the border. 

Our tickets were for the early rounds of boxing, gymnastics, swimming and cycling.  When seeing athletes who can convert perfect mental focus into physical purpose, you know this is not about the game or the sport.  It is about mastery, about achieving excellence.  Television has the power to give you a sense of the entire games but watching in person, seeing the beads of sweat on muscles flexing in a symphony of movements, unmediated by an announcer or analyst is pure fine art.  In youthful bodies, Sugar Ray Leonard and Nadia Comaneci achieved personal performance perfection – an extremely rare feat that most of us will never experience.

We found Montreal enchanting.  Working with only high school French, we relied on bilingual folks from Quebec to help us navigate the city.  The old center of Montreal was filled with art, music, good food and drink.  The cafes spilled into the square where street performers entertained hoping to eke out a living by gifts from people moved by their talents.  In those few days of the Olympiad, the world had gathered together in one of the world’s historic cities and demonstrated the possibility of being one world.  The wounds of 1972 had not yet healed, black ribbons hung on the Israeli flag, but there were no boycotts and no lives were taken in anger or hate.

In about a week, the world’s athletes will gather again.  The venue is London. 

The crack of the starting pistol will reverberate through stadium.  The crowd, dressed and adorned in the colors or flags of their home countries will leap to their feet and cheer for their team or for particular athletes in sports they love.  Perhaps you will follow Gabby Douglas as she flies high and lands strong in pursuit of her dream.  You might want to see if Michael Phelps can add to his domination of racing through water.

There will be instances where our hearts will break while we watch an athlete stumble or catch a knee on a hurdle.  After years of training the goal can be crushed by an unlikely mishap.  For a few, thousands of hours of training will come together in one brief window of time.  Gold. Your national anthem will play.  Far too often, the Silver Medalist will be described as the first loser. 

Thus far, every story about the Games is punctuated by the plans for security.  Security for the athletes, the coaches, the thousands of media people and the spectators is the story that usurps the stories of athletes and of those who sacrificed so the goal could be pursued.  The security company that contracted to provide personnel (at a price of half a billion dollars) has failed miserably.  Police forces and British military have been pressed into service. 

Customs at Heathrow will be searching bags.  Police will follow every rumor.  Soldiers will have given up their leaves to man the gates and check points.  Our obligation to all of these people is to see what their efforts have made possible.  We should see the athletic prowess and success, the effort given when a winning a medal is out of reach, the sacrifice and pride on the faces of families, how people who cannot speak the same language communicate, the smile that accompanies success, the warmth of congratulations by other athletes, the absence of boycotts or black ribbons on the flags of any country and the power of one world – fully vigilant, aware of the value of gathering as one world.

Enjoy the Games.  Leave your thermos at home.

--td