Cleaning Up
In Chapter Three, I mentioned that Columbus had a massive power outage. During that time, I began a strange phenomenon (in these parts) that involved my kids and some cleaning utensils. Every few weeks I have them go out into the courtyard and pick up all the garbage, leaves, and blown junk mail that accumulates out there like sweat stains on Teddy Kennedy’s t-shirts.
Today, after unpacking the kids and herding them into the house, I heard a strange noise coming from outside. Yes, it is November and I still have the windows open, it has been HOT this week, so the windows were open and the screens still in place. I carefully peered through my privacy blinds and lo! There were kids outside sweeping, raking, and hauling garbage out of the courtyard! This was so astounding, I quickly rounded up my kids, grabbed my broom and we all headed out there to help.
I have to tell you how happy I was to see all of them working together outside. If you do not understand this, let me explain a bit further. In my apartment building, nobody but a handful of residents speak English. Most of the inhabitants here are from the Middle East or India and we all keep pretty much to ourselves—eyeing each other from the windows for parking spaces…
The courtyard isn’t all that big. It used to have grass, but some sort of parasite killed that off and the rental company replaced that with cinder blocks. The building is surrounded by a huge group of trees that frames in a cemetery and a television station. We get heaps of leaves after a good stiff breeze. Usually, the rental company sends out a group of clean up people, but lately they have been dropping the ball. That is okay, my team of good-natured cleaners usually picks up the slack. We try to be as loud as possible so that some of our neighbors see us and come out to help…the work goes much faster that way. Today, I didn’t have to dramatically sweep very loudly or shout at the kids to bring more lawn bags out because THIS ONE IS FILLING UP AND WE NEED THREE MORE. They were already out there and with a full crew like this, the work took exactly twenty-three minutes to complete. I was astounded, happy, and kind of impressed that the non-English speaking kids would jump into the job so quickly. I don’t mean that they are lazy or that they don’t work, what I mean is that I almost hardly ever see them. They get off of their bus and head straight inside their homes, never to return until the next morning when the bus arrives to pick them up. It must have been nice for them to get out and mingle.
So there we are, out in that courtyard, sweeping and raking and hauling. I am totally tickled pink about the idea that I can finally meet my neighbors and I still am tickled pink over having just met them. Living in a community like this is a hard enough chore as it is without getting along with the people you share a common wall with. Like I have said, the work went quickly, and that is a good thing, but the best thing was sharing the smiles with the parents of all the kids. Yes, they may not be able to speak English, but they can be bitten by the same spiders and mosquitoes we managed to stir up and we all shared a “community moment.” I’m not going to take them out to have beers and I am sure it will be “business as usual” when it comes to their kids not being allowed to intermingle with all the other kids who live here, but now I can pass them in the parking lot and nod to them like I actually mean it. We shared some odd jobs together.
I think it is kind of humbling to see this sort of camaraderie in action, especially in this post 9/11 world that we hear we are living in. I feel no animosity towards the men and women I live near and I hope that they feel none towards me. I may come off as a loud and brutish thug at times, but I like to think that I have a heart of gold; maybe I am kidding myself. Who knows? The thing is my kids are learning that sharing labors is the best way to get them done. Nobody bitched today about the work—all of us bitched about the bugs.
