Strumming through the newspaper today, I found a thread connecting several stories, including the "booing" of baseball player Barry Bonds, the anger over illegal immigrants and the outrage over price gouging at the pump.
The thread is this: Americans cherish fair play.
Do Americans always play by the rules?
Not always. But showing disgust with cheaters is as American as Amway.
Imagine yourself driving along when a person in the car in front of you hurls a sack of garbage into the weeds. Imagine the spike in your blood pressure. The bag isn't dangerous. You won't have to clean it up. Other traffic violations are more flagrant. But the idea of someone thumbing his or her nose at the litter laws makes the blood boil.
So it is when we feel illegal immigrants, Barry Bonds and greedy corporations refuse to play by the rules.
Scofflaws annoy us.
In other countries, just the appearance of honesty is enough. When Mexico wanted to show the United States how hard it was fighting the drug trade, it hauled out a few photos of agents seizing bags of cocaine and trotted out some statistics. But the drugs kept flowing, and the United States chastised Mexico for "playing" at drug enforcement. They were outraged.
In Mexico, presidents have routinely raided the national treasury for personal gain. People there buy their way out of traffic tickets for a few bucks. In Mexico, people who follow the rules get squashed. Playing by the rules is seen as naive, even dangerous. Nobody pins a medal on your chest for going by the book.
That's why illegal immigrants can't see why Americans are so angry with them. They have yet to learn that in America, the rule of law is all.
Yet they are learning.
In fact, Mexico itself is learning that to get out of the Third World they need to stop fudging. Numbers don't lie. Economies demand truth.
Meanwhile, here in the states, our new less-than-legal residents are learning that same lesson even more quickly.
Up in Brigham City, my duty is to help oversee a congregation of Spanish-speakers. I'm close to dozens of illegal aliens. And to a person, I see them quickly adjusting to the American way. They're learning to trust authority. Many have shared deep, personal secrets with me. Some trust me with their lives. I would trust many with mine.
They are realizing the importance of playing by the rules. And they feel liberated when they do. When they talk of freedom, they mean more than the freedom of opportunity that comes with living here. They also mean freedom from things — from the double-dealings and multiple faces of the world they left behind. Octavio Paz, the Mexican poet, said every Mexican wears a mask and walks a labyrinth of solitude. But here, they're learning to take off their masks and trust those who lead. They're beginning to believe in "liberty and justice for all."
Are there bad apples among them? Of course. But not as many as some fear. Most want to trust us and be trusted by us.
They long to belong.
They want to learn to cherish fair play.
E-mail: jerjohn@desnews.com