America has a democratic heart. It is a generous and redemptive land where you can lift your head and know that justice and equality and a decent sympathy for the underdog are part of the music and poetry of people. We honor openness of heart, a democratic style. You are polite to the checkout girls at the Piggly Wiggly and to the shoeshine man. You do not lord it over them as if you were the grand panjandrum of Mushti and they your serfs. You don't expect people to bow in your direction. Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass, once ran into Frank Sinatra backstage at the Grammys and said, "And what is it you do?" He honestly didn't know. Sinatra wasn't insulted. It's a big country, not some little comic-opera aristocracy, and if people don't tip their hats when you walk into the room, well, don't take it too hard.
That's a quote from p. 148-149 of Homegrown Democrat: A Few Plain Thoughts From the Heart of America by Garrison Keillor. I read it during our get-away trip to the UP. Get yourself a copy or ask to borrow mine.
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