Something Andy and I talk about a lot is how today's society lacks unity. Neighborhoods are not communities anymore. They are groups of houses full of individuals with their own priorities and wants and desires. They have nothing to do with each other and couldn't care less. It's a sad situation when I can't walk down the street and say "hi" to passerby without a response.
I'm not claiming to be immune to this isolation. My noisy neighbors bother me a lot, and I'm dreading the time when we rip the plastic from our windows and throw them open. Not only will I get a nice breeze, but a whiff of their smoke and parties. Maybe they would be different if I chatted with them, or got to know them. I would hope that whether or not they know me they would still be friendly and concerned about not making too much noise.
At any rate, I long for neighbors who smile and wave. I would like to know their names and stories. It would be wonderful for someone to know me as well! I'm looking forward to moving out of this university area so that I can live among people who are concerned about the people they live among.
I watched Bobby tonight with Andy and there's this speech at the end that RFK spoke 6 months before his death. On part really caught me and I would like it to share it with you. It is something to think about how we feel about our neighbors.
"We learn, at the last, to look at our brothers as aliens, men with whom we share a city, but not a community; men bound to us in common dwelling, but not in common effort. We learn to share only a common fear, only a common desire to retreat from each other, only a common impulse to meet disagreement with force. For all this, there are no final answers."
3 comments:
I watch my neighbor masturbate, thats pretty intimate.
Coming back to small town Indiana has reminded me of the things that I didn't generally see in the Twin Cities...people wave as they drive by (I don't know them, but I wave back!), the hearing aid people telling my Dad they will stop by his house to help him with his hearing aids (they are 15 mile from where he lives, so not very close), when I go shopping, the store owners know my name and ask about my family. We need more of a community in our lives. Bobby understood this...I would recommend a book he wrote "To Seek a Newer World". I have a copy!
Coming from the twin cities there was something oddly comforting with the general anonymity of daily routine - like shopping, getting a bite to eat and walking through your neighborhood. Since ive been in duluth the one thing that kills me is that everywhere you go there will be someone you recognize - your boss at TJ max, the professor you dont like across the bar, that girl you 'sort of dated' but havent talked to in an akward amount of time eating at the table behind you...I dont like to be forced to share my life or my life's patterns with people I don't choose to, like my boss who calls me andy even though i wear a fucking name tag everyday at work!!!
I like finding a new spot every once and a while back home in saint paul - a new coffee shop where i can take on a new identity for a few hours and be whoever i want to be...OKAY ILL SHUT UP NOW!! :)
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