A Call for Sainthood…

Throughout history, there have been many saints.  Some have been named for doing gloriously splendid and grand things, and others have been named for their personal piety and dedication to being a living example of humility and selflessness.  We may hear more about the grandeur of certain saints than we do about the the mundane struggles of most others, but it is within simplicity that deep complexity exists.  This is because life is not lived or defined by great hallmarks, although that is what many history books may portray; life is lived and defined in the minutia of everyday existence.  Anyone who truly cares about or loves the person next to them understands this concept very well.

Season five of one of my favorite TV shows has begun, and Anthony Bourdain No Reservations is off to a great start.  The first episode finds Tony in Laos, a mysteriously enchanted place that Tony has always wanted to visit.  This culinary and cultural adventure was not what I expected from a man who is known more for the volume of drinking, smoking and irreverent humor that he usually packs into every show than for his “soft side.”  However, something about being in a small country that was host to a secret war perpetrated by the United States government during the Vietnam War makes Tony turn softy, at least for this episode.  His tone and his body language convey the respect he has for a people who have had to live with the consequences of U.S. bombers dropping left-over bombs on Laos on their way back from their mission in Vietnam…millions of unexploded ordinance lay scattered across some of the most beautiful terrain on earth.  These unexploded bombs have claimed the lives and limbs of many Laotians that were not part of and do not even remember the Vietnam War.  

There is one scene in particular that seemed to pull…no…yank at my tear-ducts.  Tony and his guide have just watched UXO find and explode some of the bombs that have been left behind almost forty years ago, and they meet a man and his family for some lunch.  The man lost both his left arm and left leg after stepping on unexploded ordinance, which means that the main bread-winner of the family is maimed for life.  In one instant, Tony does something that many social workers and psychologists know is VERY powerful in its potential to heal and bind wounds; Tony asks the man if he is angry about what happened.  It was at that moment that I knew that what conversation ensued would be very simply profound.  I knew in one instant that a question addressing the affective portion of that man’s being would elicit a profoundly simple and profoundly honest response because in a country that is as close to undeveloped as you can get in this age of globalization, people do not have time to be un-authentic.  I knew this also because anyone who has ever spent time in a developing nation knows the humility and honesty of a citizen not in power is inversely related to the level of development of their country of residence.  The man’s response is brief and simple, yet it conveys a depth of suffering and lost dreams only known by him and his family.

With this episode, the show has officially become more than just another travel show expounding upon the culinary and cultural adventures of one Anthony Bourdain.  The show now has an official third dimension, that of offering social clarity to situations that are not so clear in the beginning.  Tony has a way with words, and he uses this to his advantage, to the advantage of the viewers, and to the advantage of those whose stories he tells.  As one who considers herself an advocate for marginalized people, I appreciate this about Tony’s show.  To me, what Tony is doing is the work of a saint, and a worthy way to spend the dollars of his financiers.