For the road
Memo from Suzy: The luxury of history

by

I recently heard the interesting comment that history is a luxury. Is that true? The argument was that people who are struggling to survive just don't have time to study and question the past. Which is not to stay they don't have a history, they just aren't afforded the opportunity to be conscious of it.
History is a cumulation of personal experiences, and perhaps to a certain extent, of selective memories. It is usually written from the winners viewpoint, not of those beaten in battle or by poverty. The present doesn't exist, the future is yet to come, only the past is really ours. If history is a luxury, then we must treat it as such sharing its wealth with others and listening with greater attention to the lesser-told sides.
Just hours before taking this issue to press, we received the following note from our north-of-the-border friend with the flag regarding the Admirals comments:
Dear antiQuario,
...with the simple line: "They love the gesture more than the validity of its origin I suspect", you sum up much of what I love about Mexico. In the South, we appreciate the gesture as well, and we also live with our history. Faulkner said of the South: "In the South the past isn't dead, it isn't even past". By the way, Faulkner's roommate in New Orleans was William Spratling.
I await with great anticipation the arrival of your latest opus.
Warmest regards.
Mr. XX
We think it is the perfect "one for the road," don't you?

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