Culture Shock!
[March 11th] -- There were many things that took some getting used to when my family came to the United States in 1959. Beirut was certainly a modern city when compared to other regions in the Middle East, but it was virtually stone-age when compared to Washington, D.C. One of the things that amazed me the most was the size and the glitz of American cars.
Most of the cars in Beirut were Fiats, made in Italy, and easily transported by ship across the Mediterranean Sea. Fiat's were very simple, without any chrome, and, because of the war's effect on Italy's infrastructure, several years behind the other car makers of the world. My father owned a small Fiat similar to the one pictured here. He once told me that he had run out of gasoline, and poured a can of lighter fluid into the tank. He got to the gas station. As I remember, the car worked often, but not all of the time. More than once, we all piled into the family Fiat for a Sunday trip to a friend's house, and ended up having to walk because the car wouldn't start. Of course, there was no heater or radio.
You can imagine, then, my astonishment when my father drove up to our house in a baby-blue 1952 Buick Special. It was huge. I had to squint because of the reflection coming off that oversized chrome grille. It had everything. A radio, a heater; why, it even had an automatic transmission! When we rolled up the windows and took off down the road, I couldn't hear any outside noise. Even the richest of Lebanese had nothing like this car. Although it was six years old, it was in perfect shape.
Today, I realize that car was a symbol of the greatness of the American economy. In Beirut, people made purchases based on needs, not wants. Money was hard to come buy in the Middle East, and every pound sterling spent went to fulfilling our family's necessities. In America, everything was bigger and better. Here, purchases made you happy. There, purchases kept you alive.
Thanks Dad, for bringing us to this great country. Now, if they could just bring back tail-fins.....
