An American Tune

A sight at the Charlotte airport last night: People stood in bars and the magazine shop watching the presidential debate, silently listening, genuinely interested. Then the sound of a harmonica wafted in above the words on jobs and tax rates and health care. A business traveler was playing for a couple of people waiting for their plane.

The debate felt urgent, not to be missed, but the music was another strain in America: not urgent, easily missed, yet lasting, enduring. I couldn't resist the tune.