Falling in love with Philly again/Independence? Hall

Yesterday afternoon, I had reason to go into South Philadelphia. After finishing my business, the person I was meeting with down there gave a me a tip. "Try the chicken cutlet parmagiana sandwich at Vincenzo's." Wonderful lunch in a great environment. A little corner restaurant at 9th Street, a few blocks north of St. Nicholas Church, there is a lunch counter surrounding the grill. The food was great. The patron's were friendly. It was a joy.

After lunch, I continued driving up 9th Street, through the Italian Market. I stopped at Sarcone's Bakery and got a few loaves of their wonderful bread and some cookies. I had to park a few blocks away so I had a lovely, short walk on 9th Street on a beautiful sunny afternoon. I fell in love with my city again. A feeling I haven't had in years.

This morning, the first weekend day after a cold snap ended, I decided to show my daughter some of the parts of Philadelphia that I love. We took a walk through downtown historic Philadelphia. We stopped and read the signs. We stopped at the Visitors' Center and got a map to do a self-guided walking tour. We saw the Liberty Bell. We stopped at City Tavern. We watched the horse and carriage drivers. Then I took her over to Independence Hall.

John Adams has been my hero for years. I can remember standing in Faneuil Hall in Boston and getting chills thinking about the fact that John Adams had once spoken in this room. I used to get the same feeling in Independence Hall when I was younger. I couldn't wait to see if she would feel the same way. So, with my heart full of love for Philadelphia and history, I walked with my daughter over to Independence Hall. After walking around a myriad of barriers, which almost reminded me of the chutes that cattle are led down to meet their untimely demise, we were able to enter a door which would eventually enable us to see the room in which the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Upon entering the door, other visitors were in a line allowing their purses to be searched and opening their coats to reassure the guards that we had no weapons hidden under them. My skin crawled. I wanted to scream. The irony of the situation was so strong that it filled the room and sucked the air from my lungs. Are you kidding me? Just one building away was the room that housed the men who wrote the document declaring to Great Britain that we were a free nation. Yet, here we were, mindless sheep, allowing a stranger to look through our personal possessions.

I considered my next action. I could allow my civil liberties to be stolen to be permitted to see the room in which they were so important that men were willing to commit treason against King George or I could walk away and keep them intact. I decided that I needed to let my daughter see the room while I explained the incongruity. I submitted to the demeaning search of my private possessions and then stood in line for almost 40 minutes to get into the building. During that time I talked to my daughter about the reasons for my anger. She was embarrassed by my upset but, I think, understood the reason for it.

Once in the building, we were herded into the room on the right of the door which once served as the Supreme Court of Pa. I wasn't interested in showing her that. I wanted her to see the room in which the Second Continental Congress met. As I directed her toward the door of that room to look in, I was informed by another guard that we had to stay with the tour because there were valuable historical items in the next room. I told the guard we were just going to look through the door. The guards watched us closely. A true reason for concern, a middle aged woman and her young teenage daughter looking at a room of historical value unattended by a tour guide.

I hope that my daughter got the same sense of wonder from that room that I experienced at her age. A room that had been filled with brave, determined people. Great minds thinking great thoughts. Men willing to commit themselves and their lives to a belief that things could be and should be different.

Tonight, I will sit with my daughter and read Article IV of the Constitution to her. "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." I will try to explain to her how we are being disloyal to our country every time that we meekly submit to searches "for our own good". I will explain to her what John Adams meant when he said, "Be not intimidated... nor suffer yourselves to be wheedled out of your liberties by any pretense of politeness, delicacy, or decency." I will borrow from Ben Franklin, "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety", to explain to her why searches of this nature are not for our own good.

This will be my last visit to Independence Hall until it supports the principals of Independence that the signers of the Declaration of Indepence found to be self-evident and inalienable.