I spent on a week on a ship island hopping through the Caribbean. The main purpose of the trip was for a wedding of my Fiancee's friend. When we got to Florida we had to help the groom's family get to the boat, since apparently the groom was too lazy to do that himself. After getting them to the port, and helping them figure out the bag tagging for them, the groom showed up. Now, I always learned that you can tell by the quality of a man by the first handshake he gives. After he realized who we were (he walked past us as if my Fiancee and I were ghosts), he shook my hand. It was limp and pathetic. That right there told me everything I needed to know about him. I didn't need the fact that he openly ignored me when we passed each other on the ship, or when he ignored me and my Fiancee at dinner as he spoke to everyone else at the table we sat at. When he did speak to me it was in an insulting way, which made my Fiancee rush me away from him before I spoke back to him. Good thing is he's not my family's problem and I don't have to deal with him on any regular basis.
Besides that nonsense, it was a fun trip. spent a day in Jamaica, Cayman Islands, and Mexico. I wish we had more time at each spot, but we got to spend time on the beach and tour the island of Cozumel. The good news is on each spot I didn't get the feeling of hatred for American tourists, which I usually get around another Americans when they speak or do something on trips in other nations.
Taking a cruise, you get to see every deadly sin in action. It's quite fascinating. You also see how Americans from different regions of the country interact with each other, which in general seems fine. There wasn't a race war on the boat, no political arguments, just people having fun. You also see Europeans react to our people, which was also nice. Considering how many people are on a ship, and how often you are in the middle of the sea, it was good. Maybe if our nation acted like a damn cruise ship, most of the nonsense we see wouldn't happen.
Maybe this realization has been the years of martial arts training. I found myself walking around not caring what I wore or how I looked, or if I offended anyone. That level of confidence help get me through some of the nonsense, especially when it came to the other side of the wedding party. It also helped me keep cool in times I may have not. Like when this goofy white guy who was with the grooms party kept obnoxiously saying he's the token white guy, and at one point from what I hear, tried to equate himself with me. Apparently he was shut up by being told that I was born and raised in Queens and probably more Dominican than half the Dominicans at the wedding.
Lastly, since I got Miami stations in my room, I forgot how insane living in a battleground state is. There were no ads for products on their stations, just attack ads after attack ads for every level of government. Last time I saw that level of garbage was when I lived in Pennsylvania, which had just as many and stupid ads. Both Florida and Pennsylvania ads have candidates damn near accuse the other of kid touching and animal torture. I cannot wait until the election is over.