Oahu, Hawaii – Public officials on this island paradise fret coqui frogs and the pretty girls who primp along the road at the public botanical garden at Kaneohe.
Photography is prohibited on the garden road and right in front of us a blonde plops down in the middle of it, spreading her colorful skirt out across the asphalt while a girlfriend snaps photos.
The frogs, it seems, make a lot of noise.
Oh, what other places would give to have Hawaii’s problems.
On a Saturday afternoon, we parked for free, walked two blocks across a lush park football fields long, and found a wide, empty spot on San Souci Beach, a few blocks east of Waikiki. The beach also was free.
The same would set you back at least $20 most anywhere at the Jersey shore and you wouldn’t get a palm tree, either.
Hawaii boasts not only the nation’s best weather but also its most deferential citizenry. They call it “Aloha Spirit” or “Island Style.” What it means is the moment you start sweating traffic, someone stops their car to let you into their lane. Nearly a million people on the road around Oahu and no one opens fire during rush hour. Hardly anyone ever blows their car horn.
On a beach here 25 years ago, I first saw two men walking hand-in-hand. No one else seemed to notice.
These days, almost all the pedestrians in Waikiki wear protective masks, and a good portion of hikers don them to go trekking up island mountains. To sit in a bar downtown, you must first have your temperature taken. No one blinks.
It took me about a week to meet a jerk: A white guy, or “haole” as islanders might call him, a great big one in line at the post office who vaguely resembled Alaska’s governor, barking something about his rights because he had to wear a mask to mail a package. The postal clerks and other patrons ignored him and he shut up.
By universal practice, Hawaiians have perfected cool as a means of shunning deviant behavior and it works, apparently.
It would be tempting to attribute island chill to the hospitable climate or the tropical pace of life, but many locales are warm and inviting. Demographics offer some clues. Whites make up only 25 percent of Hawaii’s population, compared to 60 percent on the U.S. mainland. Hawaii is 29 percent Christian versus 60 percent on the mainland.
Forty percent of marriages in Hawaii are interracial versus 15 percent on the mainland.
“That is the great thing about Hawaii. We’re so culturally diverse and we inner-marry and appreciate each other’s cultures,” says U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, who leads the state in Washington, D.C. Hirono is a Buddhist Japanese immigrant whose husband is half Korean.
As I mostly gave up on following the news during my 10-day island sojourn, one morning I asked a Japanese-American journalist friend to tell me the state of the world. “Needs some tidying up,” he replied.
No drama, just a little sweeping here and there.
Hawaii exudes a sensibility that should be distilled and pumped into drinking water systems everywhere.
One day, a lottery will be the only way onto the islands and hopefuls from all over the world will blow the last of their kids’ grocery money on tickets.