This time last week, I was in Boston on a work trip. It was a week filled with big news stories in local and national media. The Boston Red Sox World Series triumph was totally emphatic. No dramatic game sevens as the top quality pitching and some key hitting from the Red Sox was sufficient to snuff out the LA Dodgers who continue to ponder how they get to win a World Series.
The parade around Boston looked crazy; the office that I was based for the week was in Downtown Boston and from early morning last Wednesday, the fans were filing out of South Station and the other big commuter belt train stations in the city to gain an excellent vantage point (1 million fans) to see their heroes in person. Alex Cora as a player was such a hard working player and as a head coach, he has continued in the same vain. Price as a pitcher arrived to the post-season. Steve Pearce’s MVP accolade in the World Series a true inspiration.
For the numbers in attendance at the parade, there were always going to be a few idiots in the crowd looking to stand out for the wrong reasons. The beer can throwing to the cavalcade was a classic example; the players and staff would have happily taken a beer, the only problem was that the beer cans were flung at such velocity that it was fortunate that no one on the parade was seriously hurt (apart from the World Series trophy). The video phones were out to name and shame the poor kids who quickly realized that the beer can throwing was probably not one of their better ideas.
USA is in the fever of mid-term elections. The USA national media is a confusing place to get the ‘fair and balanced’ viewpoint on things. Trump pushing the immigration card and the caravan convoy to raise fears and suspicions in the key US states while the Democrats are throwing the likes of Oprah and Obama to get the minority vote out. The vote in Georgia looks intriguing given the celebrity star power that have being drawn to this governor race. Abrams is making gains. Roll on Tuesday!
The Squirrel Hill massacre was another timely reminder on how life is so precious and how high ranking officials words can lead to individual’s to do such crazy things. The stories of the victims were gut-wrenching; all good, decent people who arrived to the Synagogue to reflect and pray like they did every Saturday. It was a terrible event and the Pittsburgh people were top class in how they handled the tragedy. Trump decided to barrel into town despite locals opposition on the national airwaves. A fractious week for sure in the political and social elements of the country in full view.
The end of the week saw the passing of Whitey Bulger. A watershed moment in Boston. I lived in Harbor Point, South Boston for a period in the early 2000’s and the locals would tell of the fear imposed by Bulger and his gang in the community at its height.
The Departed movie was a production that I could not watch; the themes of the movie were eerily striking to Bulger. Given what I had heard about the individual, the news of his death in Virginia was as brutal as Bulger’s regime. The news was greeted for the victims of Bulger with reflection and perhaps a quiet toast for their loved ones lost. A horrific, sad part of Boston history has being consigned to the history books finally.
A week in Boston, a week where the glitzy apartments and condos around the waterfront of the World Trade Center stretch far and wide into the horizon. The wealth and splendor of these new dwellings in comparison with the numbers of homeless people on the street corners in Downtown Boston late at night. The class divide continues unabated.
The World Trade Center district is vast now and the Convention Center is a superb addition to the area; recall when the area just had the WTC, a couple of restaurants and vast car parks. It has being some transformation in this area, the majority of it definitely for the betterment of the community.
I spent 6.5 years in Boston back in the early 2000’s, a city which will always have fond memories for me but I cannot help but feel that the country is at complete loggerheads and it is going to take someone exceptional to heal the divisions of the nation in the years to come. Who can step forward to start this remediation process? A difficult question to answer indeed.