Little Big Moments: Wondering About That Halftime Show

I wonder how many Super Bowl fans who complained about the halftime show also ate tortilla chips and salsa.

I wonder how many of them think “salsa” is only a condiment, not a dance move.

I wonder how many people still don’t know that Puerto Rico is part of the United States.

I wonder how many dancers have boogied to hip hop songs whose English lyrics they couldn’t understand.

I wonder how many kids who speak Spanish in their homes will be emboldened to speak it more in school, and I wonder how many of their classmates will try to understand what they are saying.

I wonder how many Spanish-speaking children will try playing American football.

I wonder how many little boys and girls will dream of getting married at the Super Bowl.

I wonder why we expect entertainers to promote national unity but don’t hold our elected officials to the same standard.

I wonder if the enduring reaction to the Super Bowl Halftime Show will be felt at the midterm elections.

I wonder how many Christians think that Jesus spoke American.

I wonder how many people realized that when Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio said, “God bless America,” he meant the entire American continent: all of its languages, all of its cultures, and all of its people.

I wonder if more of us will now think that our American flag looks beautiful when flying alongside the flags of other countries.

I wonder what it will take for more of us to listen deeply to those who are different from us.

I wonder what it will take for more of us to listen gently between the words.

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Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of the book with Wipf and Stock Publishers titled This Is the Day: A Year of Observing Unofficial Holidays about Ampersands, Bobbleheads, Buttons, Cousins, Hairball Awareness, Humbugs, Serendipity, Star Wars, Teenagers, Tenderness, Walking to School, Yo-Yos, and More. He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he is a student of joy.

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