There are weird people in every community, but in cities, you aren't forced to confront them.
Today I was leaving an evening speaker that was unprecedentedly full. A local older woman, who I have seen at previous intellectual events and confidently asks intelligent but strongly worded questions, was shuffling along in her multi-colored garb laden with a couple bags. As I walked by she asked me if the talk had started and I replied "oh its totally full of people and has been since before the talk started." I heard her shuffle pace increase rapidly so I added "they're sending everyone away." As I looked behind me at her exponential foot movement, her legs cease immediately in time and space and her pile of self and bags falls flat-as-a-board forward. Luckily others were not far off, because I am ashamed to say, since I was about 10 sidewalk squares beyond her, I thought to myself in one rapid moment "oh crap. I have to deal with this, don't I." I thought of communities where elders are taken care of by all ages of the community--not our American one, in other words. I thought of cities where some people might just walk by a seeming bag-lady fallen on the ground. And I thought of my small town, where this is absolutely unacceptable. I do not have to know that this woman, though somewhat infirm, is quite intelligent, but alas my still somewhat urban self used that to validate (thankfully, quickly) my action and necessity to return.
At FreeMeal the other day, Auggie explained why he did so much work for FreeMeal. "It's not because of Charity, or to spend time volunteering. It is not that no one else is doing it. It is that it has to be done. In the Fall you winterize your swamp cooler not because you want to, because it feels good to do it, but because you have to. That's how I feel about FreeMeal. But you reach a point where you need a break. Or Help."
Why does obligation have such a negative connotation?
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