With the upheaval of traveling, I actually missed the story of Khizr Khan. I noticed that snippets of his speech were being constantly replayed on the news but I had no idea why.

The story is, of course, unbelievable. The idea that there are actually millions of people in the country who like the way Trump talked about this family and its tragedy is extremely sad. Wanton cruelty in the face of horrible loss can only evoke revulsion in normal people. But Trump’s supporters dig attacks on grieving parents, especially if these parents are not white and speak with an accent. 

Notice also how fast the whole “support our heroic troops” line was thrown out of the window the moment it became convenient.

Even Mark Cuban endorsed Hillary for president. Billionaires who actually worked for their money despise Trump. High-achievers never like spoiled, lazy Daddy’s boys and girls who inherit and add to their inheritance through grift and dishonesty. 

The US newspaper at our hotel is WSJ, and what a boringly pro-Trumpian paper it is. But the view is sensational. I will switch to a Canadian paper tomorrow. 

My phone is so parochial that it refers to Montréal as “Montreal City.” Well, at least it’s not “Montreal, D.F.”

I’m very happy about Trump’s statements on the Crimea. Now I will finally see fewer starry-eyed Ukrainians babble how Trump will be a great help to Ukraine against Russia. I hope he keeps talking. 

Something was making me queasy as I walked past the newsstand, and I had to go back to find out what it was. This is what my lateral vision had caught:

I think it’s a really shitty way to sell magazines. 

When I came to Montréal 18 years ago, everybody seemed extraordinarily, even obsequiously polite compared to people back in Ukraine. And now that I come to Montréal from the American Midwest, everybody seems rude and grumpy.

✡✡✡✡✡✡

In Montréal, everybody is dressed a lot nicer and people are a lot less happy to see babies. But everybody is very understanding towards people with accents because there isn’t anybody without an accent. 

✡✡✡✡✡✡

What everybody calls “intolerable heat” here in Montréal is a cool breeze back in St Louis. 

Some genius at La Guardia covered every surface with flashing screens. They stand between people at restaurants, bars and rest stops, making conversation impossible. You can’t kill the blasted things because the power button is disabled. 

There are screens even in the bathroom, informing people of how long until the next cleaning. All of this money wasted on useless technology, and there isn’t even a diaper-changing station in the men’s room. Somebody should inform the airport management of the shocking news that men have children, too. In fact, exactly as many men have children as women do. Freaky! 

I’m getting such screen fatigue that I’m about to start smashing these flashing, blinking devourers of human interactions. 

Why do I even live in the Midwest? The moment we arrived in New York, I met a group of great Spanish-speaking women and a restaurant that serves all kinds of wurst.