I am here in Buenos Aires with the Cabrillo College Spanish program. In addition to daily classes, there are several excursions available to me. Today’s offering was a visit to the slums.
The area we visited is identical to places in many countries I’ve seen. The streets seem busy with people and commerce, people are doing all sorts of work right out in the open (or close enough so that you can see it, peeking in the doorways), and kids are hanging around kicking soccer balls into the puddles. Take, for example, the shoe repair man. His machinery was set up on the street. His customer was sitting on a cheap plastic patio chair. They were obviously enjoying a chat. There were plenty of doggies and kitties prowling around. They all seem pretty well fed, if a little rough around the edges.
What always slays me is the trash. I look around and wonder, “Why doesn’t anyone pick up the garbage?” I cluck my tongue and ponder, “What’s so hard about putting the refuse in nice, neat piles?”
I can’t help it. I see the world through my tidy-obsessed eyes. I know this is judgmental. Nevertheless….. By the way, I did not take any photos of this experience. It didn’t seem right.
On my defense, I’ll report that we Cabrillo College students contributed a very large pile of children’s clothing to a local social services program called La Cocina de los Angelitos. I personally contributed school supplies. I couldn’t help it.
The area we visited is identical to places in many countries I’ve seen. The streets seem busy with people and commerce, people are doing all sorts of work right out in the open (or close enough so that you can see it, peeking in the doorways), and kids are hanging around kicking soccer balls into the puddles. Take, for example, the shoe repair man. His machinery was set up on the street. His customer was sitting on a cheap plastic patio chair. They were obviously enjoying a chat. There were plenty of doggies and kitties prowling around. They all seem pretty well fed, if a little rough around the edges.
What always slays me is the trash. I look around and wonder, “Why doesn’t anyone pick up the garbage?” I cluck my tongue and ponder, “What’s so hard about putting the refuse in nice, neat piles?”
I can’t help it. I see the world through my tidy-obsessed eyes. I know this is judgmental. Nevertheless….. By the way, I did not take any photos of this experience. It didn’t seem right.
On my defense, I’ll report that we Cabrillo College students contributed a very large pile of children’s clothing to a local social services program called La Cocina de los Angelitos. I personally contributed school supplies. I couldn’t help it.
1 comment:
I personally believe that technology has reduced our social capital—the relationships that bind people together and create a sense of community. Consequences include decreased civility, loss of behavioural boundaries and increased crime. We must find ways to deal with our profound loss of social connectedness.
Even though technological advances have contributed significantly to the problem of isolation, the emphasis on individualism in today’s society has compounded it.
Pappano believes that often we may want to connect with others and to have deep and meaningful relationships, but we want it on our own terms. “We have moved from a society in which the group was more important than the individual,” she says, “to one in which the central figure is the self. ... From the ashes of duty we have risen to claim not merely a healthy dose of freedom but individual supremacy. ... We want success, power, and recognition. We want to be able to buy or command caring, respect, and attention. And today so many of us feel deserving of the service and luxuries once accorded a privileged few. We may live in a more egalitarian society, but we have become puffed full of our own self-worth.”
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