Earlier this week, a man nearly knocked me off the sidewalk
and into the street as I made my way from the parking garage to my office about
two blocks away. The man was tall and sturdily built and wearing a very nice
(expensive) suit in conservative navy. He held a stainless coffee travel mug in
one hand and a copy of The Wall Street Journal along with a fistful of cash in
the other. Seriously. He was carrying a wad of money. He pushed open the door as
he exited the CVS on the corner and stepped into my path. He never even looked
nor did he see me. I was literally beneath his notice. I recovered my balance
without injury, but as I followed him down the sidewalk and then into the
office building, I was struck by how inconsequential I was to this man in his
expensive suit. He didn’t hold the door for anyone behind him when entering the
lobby of our building either, just allowed the door to close on its own as if
he was the only person in the universe.
This struck me as particularly aligned to our current political
climate. The world continually surprises me with events both absurd and
terrifying. I am incredulous at the voices that are rising to the surface while
my own seems to be so muffled and ineffective as to render me completely
invisible.
Also this week, I found a flyer stuffed into my mailbox
announcing an upcoming block party that would shut down our street (of about 24
houses) to all traffic and require that no one parked on the road. Cars with
their visitors would have to find a space on a cross street or another
neighboring road so that partygoers could set up their barbecues and patio
chairs and lawn games and such. Sounds fun, right? The road would be closed
from 10am until 7pm, the flyer informed me. Nine hours. Nine hours of people
day drinking in the street in front of my home. Last year, a fight broke out
right in front of my yard when the group failed to reopen the street for hours
after the posted time and another neighbor tried to get home through the
drunken revelers.
So I was surprised, and not in a good way, that this event
was happening again and for the full day. The flyer directed us to a facebook
group set up for the party, though it turned out to be a closed group that one
has to request access to see. I did and was granted access. When I asked the
question about why this closure needed to be nine hours, I was told:
Can’t please everyone
The temporary
barricades aren't very large, nor are they very heavy. If you must exit [the
street] at some point on [ the day of the party], you can move the barricade.
All that we ask is that you please have the decency to put it back where it
was.
you can enter and exit
through the other streets just as easily park at the end of the corner walk a
couple streets walk a couple feet to the house ..wouldn't kill anybody to burn
a calorie and have a little bit exercise for a neighborhood everybody get
together and be a neighbor event
By law we need to keep
the street passable for any emergency vehicles, so you'll be able to get past
if you must.
Small inconvenience
for a good party!
It turns out that anyone in the city of Baltimore can
request a street closure for a party without asking anyone who lives there for
consent. I looked it up. You pay a small fee, agree to post signs 72 hours in
advance telling people to get their cars off the street (or they will get towed), agree to reopen by
9pm, and to complete other forms if you intend to sell food or have live
entertainment. This amazes me as did the
response of my neighbors when I asked about the hours of the closure. In the
spirit of “getting to know the neighbors” could I kindly shut up and go along
with the plans made by the organizers? After all, it “wouldn’t kill anybody to
burn a calorie and have a little bit exercise for a neighborhood everybody get
together and be a neighbor event.”
I would argue that “being a neighbor” probably ought to
include a discussion with the homeowners on the street before the permit was
pulled to close it, but I can already tell that just like with the man in the
suit, this group’s attention is elsewhere and they are not interested in
hearing or seeing anything else. I’m curious what would happen if
I randomly selected other streets to close around Baltimore. It seems like a
dangerous hobby. I also wonder how many
other neighbors are taken by surprise with the street closure. After the
drubbing I got on Facebook, perhaps no one else will hazard a query. I know
that my next-door neighbors were not informed either and have concerns about
where they will park that day. Somehow, I suspect the party organizers will be
less than sympathetic.
Small inconvenience
for a good party!
As it happens, this shindig of neighborliness is scheduled
on the Saturday before my birthday when I might have been inclined to have
friends and family over for wine on the porch or dinner and games. I can’t have
them park ten houses away and schlep up the hill, though, so I will make other
plans, being sure to be out before 10 am and back after 7. I hope my neighbors
don’t burn my house down with all that bonding and neighborly goodwill.
