The Kibitzer

E Pluribas Unum

Over the course of Independence weekend, I was reminded again of what makes Laguna such a special place. And America, too. People want in. Especially Laguna. And can you blame them? With weather in the high 70s and a gentle offshore breeze, where else would you want to be? Much as we try to keep them away with nonstop gridlock, a dearth of parking, and a movement to deny affordable accommodations, they just keep coming. Ask the hotels. They are at record occupancies. And since our visitors pay a great deal of our taxes, and we will shortly be asking them to pay more, we should welcome them with a big, wet Laguna kiss.

The United States seal contains the Latin phrase, E pluribas unum, which translates as “Out of many, one.” It was suggested in 1776 by Pierre Eugene du Simitiere to the committee responsible for developing the seal, and in recent years it has come to mean that out of many peoples, races, religions and ancestries has emerged a single people and nation.

Stunning, isn’t it? And yet here we are two and a half centuries later, and the very fabric of our seal is being torn asunder by racial, ethnic, religious and class wars.

What a year 2016 has been so far. With despicable terrorist attacks, more police killings of black men, an incomprehensible sniper retaliation, and of course hate filled racists rants from presidential nominees. One must wonder if we are regressing as a species, or at the very least living in a Quentin Tarantino movie? What’s going on with our planetary alignment, people?

There is no place for intolerance in this fragile world. America was founded on pluralism. We are not black, white, brown or yellow. Not Muslim, Christian, atheist or Jew. We’re not government versus people, or cops versus citizens. And we’re not rich versus poor, male versus female, young versus old, gay versus straight, or homeless versus housed. These are old paradigms that divide us. Because this rich gumbo of a country, when stirred together with a liberal sprinkling of compassion produces a delicious broth of “humanhood” that is unparalleled on earth. As Hal David and Burt Bacharach crooned 50 years ago, “What the world needs now, is love, sweet love. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.”

On July 4 we were invited to a home and dined with a young Chinese couple from Beijing who were here for graduate school, along with a Chinese businessman, also from Beijing, and an Italian who teaches engineering in Minnesota, and his Polish girlfriend. They were vacationing in Laguna because of short-term rentals, as none of them could afford our hotels. The conversations were convivial and enlightening, and especially heartwarming when the subject of America came up.

They were all here for the same reason: opportunity, and had dreamed of coming their whole lives. Just like your ancestors. And how great to see them off to Main Beach, where they could experience America exceling at, well, being America.

In these dog days of summer, spend a little time at Heisler Park, Treasure Island, or Main Beach, and the beautiful pastiche that is America unfolds. As I laid out at Treasure Island last week, I heard a stew of Russian, Persian, Arabic, Chinese, and Spanish from regular people who are somehow construed as the enemy to our way of life. But they are our way of life, rejoicing freely on the beach with family and friends, cooking ethnic foods on the barbecues at Heisler, warming to the bonfires at Aliso Beach, and some are even assimilating and building careers right here in Laguna.

Take Alessandro Pirozzi from Naples, who in addition to Alessa and Mare Restaurants, will be re-opening Salerno shortly. That’s three restaurants and over 100 jobs in town. He also created the beautiful test parklet that makes us feel we are in Europe, yet has sparked unwarranted controversy because it is, well, something new. (Our City Council will decide on July 26 whether it stays. I hope you’ll support it). Or Mozart Adonis, a Lebanese-Armenian, who is trying to make it with his eponymous shwarma, kebab and falafel shop at Park and Forest Avenues, despite a challenging location (four different owners in 10 years). Plus we have Iranians, Jamaicans, Argentines, Mexicans, Peruvians, South Africans, French, Japanese, Chinese and Thai all bringing their wondrous cuisines to our hamlet, and working tirelessly to achieve the American Dream.

So much to be grateful for. Especially the free stuff, like that brisk, delectable Pacific that awakens all your senses, our wonderful local radio station, donation-based yoga on our beaches and parks, our great artists and musicians who enliven our town, our trolley and new Summer Breeze free shuttle from the 405 to town (tell your friends), our hiking and biking trails, the Friday pleasure of reading this paper, and maybe someday more parklets and a pedestrian plaza downtown to sit and meet people just like you, except different.

Happy Independence Day, and remember, may Allah, Buddha, Krishna, Haile Selassie, Yahweh and God, all bless America.

Billy Fried hosts “Laguna Talks” on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. on radio station KX 93.5. Reach him: [email protected].