Community

This is truly a disjointed ramble. There are nuggets of thought tenuously strung together. I think each section is its own thought. However, the string that holds them together is social interactions. I think I could have fleshed out each paragraph into its own post, but I like the idea of being able to read a post out of order. 

Moving back to New Orleans, I have been told that I HAVE to follow Saints football. If I don't, it is like I have leprosy and will be ostracized from the city. When I was younger, I followed football to a certain extent, even had my picture taken with Dalton Hillard in Schwegmann's Supermarket (how is that for Saints cred?).  I have not followed the Saints or any football team since junior high age (maybe younger). The only sports event I follow is the World Cup, but only while it is going on. I don't follow futbol (soccer) year-round, but once the World Cup starts up, I get very enthusiastic. This has only occurred for the past 2 World Cups (since it happens once every four years). The camaraderie that sports brings has me thinking about community and how it helps create a language for people to engage socially.

I was in a story recently, and a young man was trying to create idle talk by stating, "You gunna watch the Saints game?" Fear of an inappropriate response, I said, "Yea?" To my dismay, this furthered the conversation with his retort of, "So whatdya think the score is gunna be?" In my complete lack of even knowing whom the Saints were playing, I found a nugget of information that I learned from some movie or book. Thus responded with, "Don't know the spread. Do you?" What am I, a bookie? This halted the conversation in its tracks, and I practically ran away fully aware of my social awkwardness. This young man was attempting to make a connection. It is a store that I frequent weekly, and maybe he recognized me and was making a connection- bringing me into the community. Now I can never go there again.

Our first community is our family. I am fortunate that my father was an odd duck- his favorite movie was The Jerk. While driving, he would, to no one in particular, sing-talk, "Hello. Good-bye." He would sing, "Fritz the cat-dog. He's a cat." at random intervals. He even made a joke that is still used among some close friends about being "sluggish." I could list many more examples, but I believe you get the picture. I also have cousins that have odd humor and this brings about only a modicum of feeling peculiar in your own family. My older cousins are, well, older so it was not until I was older that a bounding began to form. I felt like a nuisance around my older cousins, whether they felt that way or not- I did.

I think books were my first foray into escapism. I used them as a means to deflect any social interactions. If you are reading a book in public, most likely no one will bother you or attempt conversation. On the other hand, if someone asks what you are reading, then you can discuss something that is fresh in your mind. On the other, other hand, that person can quickly display the thought, "I've made a terrible mistake," in a non-verbal communication, which is often loss on me.

Until I ramble on again . . .