You can file this one under “Say what?”

I shook my head in disbelief when I read the e-mail. A woman from Statesville, NC, wrote and told me she was taping and sending VHS copies of Carolina Traveler to her son serving in Iraq.

Living in the strange and surreal world of roadside bombs and bitter hot sand farther than ten thousand eyes could see, Carolina Traveler became a reminder of everything that Sgt. 1st Class Marvin Bennett held dear.

And here’s the kicker: Sgt. Bennett played CT for the Iraqi National Guard! Pardon me but HOLY CRAP!

It’s a strange world, isn’t it?

I know the old adage… we’re all supposed to be separated by 6 degrees. If you talk to a total stranger he will know someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone (is that six yet?) who knows you. But I think 6 is the wrong number now. Maybe that was true in the 1950s when the world was huge and mysterious. But the earth shrunk. People in the Middle East and Far East and even in Canada watch American television. (To my Aunt Rose: Sorry. Sometimes I make jokes about Canada. It’s because I’ve never met a Canadian I didn’t like. I find Canadians to be more optimistic, self deprecating versions of Americans.) (To everyone else: My aunt Rose lives in Ontario, Canada. She’s my mom’s sister and a hoot, ay!)

Okay back to the journal…

There are a thousand jet airplanes in the sky hurtling people to far flung cities across every continent every minute of every day.

A terrorist in a dusty cave on the other side of the globe makes a video tape message of doom… and a multimillionaire network news anchor sitting in New York City wearing a $1500.00 suit plays it for us on the evening news.

Somewhere in the last 25 years while we were getting our college degrees, buying laptop computers and waxing our minivans that play DVDs the world turned into a meatball we can swallow in two bites.

And so a North Carolina boy named Marvin is sent to Iraq to teach their soldiers how to be real soldiers. How to have discipline. How to follow rank. How to have a code of honor and how to stay committed to the cause.

He also decided to show them something from his homeland… to build a connection. To share part of himself with them. To help give them a reference point. And that would be my show.

Can you picture an American soldier sitting in a giant camouflage tent in the middle of a desert with a couple dozen Iraqi trainees watching Carolina Traveler? Sounds preposterous. It is preposterous. But it happened.

If you want people from another culture to understand your people you don’t play them “24” or “CSI Miami”. Great shows. But I don’t know anyone like those people.

You introduce them to real Americans. People who aren’t on TV; they just watch it when they have time between trying to get their kids to school and paying the bills. And that’s what Andy and I do all day long. We go out and put your neighbors on TV.

This is where it gets humorous, of course.

Here’s a little insight for you… The Iraqi Soldiers’ favorite CT story was –are you sitting down?—about local girl and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Brooklyn Decker. Crazy, huh? Gee! Men in Iraq like pretty girls in bikinis? How can this be?

They even wanted Sgt. Bennett to pass along their e-mail addresses to Brooke. Okay, I didn’t realize Iraqi’s had e-mail first of all. And second of all, they didn’t seem the least bit concerned that Brooke was a Christian. Men are men no matter where they live or what god they worship. We like you ladies. Of course I speak strictly on behalf of straight men.

Another story that blew away the Iraqi soldiers was about a simple old man who sold tomatoes at a roadside vegetable stand in his front yard. They couldn’t believe how lush and green the Carolinas is… they couldn’t believe people had gardens in their back yards and that we had so many vegetables we could sell them to anyone else who wanted some.

And they couldn’t believe this old man just left a jar of money sitting on that roadside table with no intention of minding it. While he and his wife run into town of go for a ride he leaves the vegetables with a price list and the money jar out there all day. Customers come take what vegetables they want and leave their cash in the jar. It’s the honor system. That stunned these Iraqi men.

Don’t you just love the Carolinas?

I swear I’ve never met kinder, truer people.

If you watch the show Thursday night, you’ll meet the Tomato Man. He’s as kind as the day is long.

You’ll also get to know Sgt. 1st Class Marvin Bennett. He’s home now. And he’s exactly what you’d expect: A man of God, a family man… and a soldier.

I say this a lot… because it’s true: Don’t forget to stop and smell the people.

Sit down with your family Thursday night, tune into Carolina Traveler… and enjoy your neighbors.

Mike Redding