I had lunch the other day at The Noodle Lounge, a Vietnamese restaurant on Gandy Boulevard in South Tampa. Good food, pleasant setting, gracious service. I had the “Hanoi Beef” (and noodles), which was delicious.
It wasn’t on the menu, but also served up was food for thought. I couldn’t help thinking how unlikely it would have seemed 30 years ago that American diners would think nothing of going to a good Vietnamese restaurant and ordering up the “Hanoi Beef.”
Life goes on.
The U.S. now has normal diplomatic and trade relations with the country we were once at war with — and where some 50,000 American G.I.’s died. In fact, Vietnam has even pledged to help the recovery effort in Iraq.
Then I glanced down at my newspaper and saw this headline: “U.N. Asks U.S. To End Cuba Embargo.” It noted that for the 12th straight year the U.N. General Assembly had urged the U.S. to end its 42-year-old trade embargo against Cuba. Once again, the resolution, which is not legally binding, passed overwhelmingly.
Voting with the U.S. — against the resolution — were Israel and the Marshall Islands. Not even Tony Blair could sign on to this one.
Not all life goes on.