We were sitting on the platform of the metro tram after a long day. A young man approached us and we both winced a little. The sky was getting dusky and we wanted to be back in our room with the door locked. (Turkish men can be persistent- see knees.) But he looked nice enough and stammered out an excuse me. And then just stammered.
Linda said, you want to practice your English? (People had been asking to practice with us all day.)
And he did.
He started with basic questions, where are you from, what do you do? The train came and we piled on, sharing a four top with an old man. He asked about our hobbies. I like DVDs, he said.
And then he asked, do you think the United States is currently functioning as a democracy?
Good God.
My brain was whirling too fast to respond but Linda managed a respectable reply about the promise of the coming election. I piggybacked with something about the beauty of the system being flexible enough to correct itself. He listened and then said, oh, I hope it works because the rest of the world needs democracy and deserves a solid example.
We were shamed ten times a day by polite, gentle inquires as to what the Hell our government was doing.
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