Last night in Oakland
Last night in Oakland, the neighbors gathered on the street to view the wreckage. At about 11:25. just as I was drifting off, I heard the crash of metal--a familiar sound on our street. This one sounded bad. No squealing tires, just thud, then thud, then thud again. And then, the sounds of my neighbors: Call 911. Four cars. Looks bad.
Once or twice a year, we all turn out and have a gruesome sort of block party. We live on a hill, south of I-580. No speed bumps, just a fast ride down for a heavy-footed cruiser. It's not a rich neighborhood. Most of my neighbors have to park on the street. Two doors down is the house we call the Death Spot. The house in the curve. Any car parked in front of this house always gets creamed. (Once, the house itself got creamed.) Last night, it was a green Toyota pickup that did a 180 and landed in the yard next door. The speedster ended up across the street, nearly on somebody's porch. But it's all good. He's fine, a little confused--how'd I get here, he wondered. Meanwhile, my neighbors are wondering how they'll get to work in the morning, and if the guy had insurance (no), and if they (we) can ever get off this block.
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Sarah Stone says:
inadvertent communities
A friend today was talking about the people she's dating -- the process of finding them on-line. An intentional search. You try to imagine your ideal world and then, to people it, go looking for that tall/funny/romantic/honest/Kronos-Quartet-and-A.S.-Byatt-loving being who doesn't drink too much or start unnecessary battles over trivial details or obsess about his/her haircuts.
Not just romance, but also the on-line or intentional friendships we try to arrange. As opposed to the "gruesome block parties," the relationships you stumble into because you're out in the street calling 911 and looking at the wreckage. Or teaching together at a conference or writing program, especially if the circumstances are difficult or dramatic. Or being sent out together on book tour (if your books hadn't been published the same week, would you ever have met)? Or joined in a lawsuit against the developer that the city would happily allow to roll over the neighborhood. Or organizing politically against a disastrous, ongoing war. Your post makes me think about the role of some kind of catastrophe in making/strengthening those inadvertent communities. (All the elements you would never have put in the Eden you were designing and posting ads for online.)