A Tale of Two Torches

2004:
I was walking from my flat near the Voltaire metro station down rue de la Roquette, when I came up to the busy, multi-pronged intersection at the Bastille. I noticed a huge crowd of people standing on the curb--but not crossing the street-- waving French flags. I was on my way to the really friendly post office that's right off of rue St. Antoine and was lost in my thoughts. But I stood for a moment at the intersection with the crowd, wondering what was going to happen.

Then I heard sirens...followed by a crowd of people walking down the street, accompanied by police. And in the middle of the crowd, almost unnoticeable, was the Olympic torch runner. It wasn't impressive, really. The torch runner seemed lost in the crowd, and the flame itself was more like a can of Sterno on a stick. It looks so much better on TV. But I have this story now of how I accidentally stumbled across the Olympic torch runner, amusing only because other people had planned their whole day around trying to see it.

2008:
Once again, I was somewhat oblivious while the Olympic torch passed through my city. I had a head cold and a lot of work to do...but at lunchtime, I headed out for a quick errand. I took a shortcut through the Muni metro station. Over the PA system, they were making loud announcements in Chinese, which is not typical. When I emerged from the station, I saw protesters making phone calls to each other on cell phones.

I've watched the coverage of the protests in London and Paris, too, and while I agree that China's record on human rights is abysmal, I don't think the demonstrations are going to make an impact on China's policies any more than the annual demonstrations at the World Trade Summit have stopped globalization. And the USA is unlikely to boycott the games any more than it did in the 1930s in Germany. The world we live in today is powered behind the scenes and en route to a destiny that we are not likely to influence with handwritten placards or email petitions, and this is certainly true with both the USA and China.