Cab Driver continued

Christmas pulled me away from our New York travel story. We had such a great time with Paul M and Karen and Mama Rosa and my sister and brother in law – Don and Monie Smith around the Christmas tree. What a blessing!  –  More about that later.

From the Islip airport, the cab driver took us to Port Jefferson. He told us that it had been a whaling community. Many Norwegians lived there. He said that as he was growing up, his grandmother always asked the spelling of names. She frowned on the Swedish because she said that they were nuetral in the war. His example was a name ending in “en” (Norwegian) versus “on” (Swedish). Today the area is a melting pot of many nationalities.

He and Paul got into a conversation about the evolution of communities as new immigrant groups arrive. Port cities are always the first to greet them. The cab driver reflected on the halls that used to be called “Sons of Norway” which are now called “Sons of India”. Every group of immigrants colonized these port entries until they assimilated into the American culture. Because of this, these port cities are a true quilt of cultural diversity. The process continues today. It is one of those elements that contributes to the tolerant diversity of our wonderful country.