Modern meccas

Yesterday I was walking with my husband, henceforth H., when he made a comment that struck me. He was talking about some acquaintances in Colombia who he described as follows: A couple with three children, they are well off, but not interested in the world. The evidence for their complete lack of interest in the world beyond their provincial borders? Why, they'd never even taken their children to Disney World!

He made a similar comment at some point in the past and it is jarring because this is a man who had plenty of exposure to the anti-Americanism of the 1960s. In terms of what he personally would like to do on vacation, Disney would be close to the bottom of the list. He watches art-house movies (OK, he watches just about anything, but rarely Disney movies) and, though he reads constantly, he has no time to read anyone who isn't ... what? A writer of substance, perhaps. I'll write down the first five titles I see from his book pile -- Seriously, I just stood up and grabbed five books from the floor next to his bed - where he piles them up when he has spent time recently reading them.

(1) The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barett Browning, 1845-1846, V. 1

(2) Flannery O'Conner, Collected Works.

(3) The Diary of John Evelyn ESQ. F.R.S. from 1641 to 1705 with Memoir, edited by William Bray Esp. (Suspect that this book is in the pile because he picked it up at a used bookstore not too long ago, it's a beautiful edition from 1890. So, sometimes it's the "substance" of the material book that attracts him).

(4) Reynaldo Arenas, El color del verano.

(5) The Complete Works or Oscar Wilde.

My point? Disney did some job of marketing to Colombians of a certain generation... I mean, WE took our kids to Disney World also - Does it feel like some sort of mecca for children? If you don't take your children there, are they scarred?

I bet a poll would reveal that this attitude has pretty much disappeared by now - It was a simpler time when Disney could convince people that there was nothing to compare with their "world."

When I was young, McDonalds managed to have the same effect on me. Ronald, The Hamburgler... who else was there? I don't remember any more. I saw these commercials on summer vacations, but I had never eaten at a McDonalds. So, without it being any sort of obsession for me, I must have had some very high expectations about the McDonalds experience. Those are lost in the fog, but I do remember the first time I ever ate in a McDonalds; or more precisely, I remember the epiphany. McDonalds is nothing but ... this?