Quote Originally Posted by BizzleLuvin
also i was thinking about fences today. theres a small strip of low-income black folk living outside my neighborhood. the houses are small and old, most are in disrepair. none of them have fences, their properties kind of melt together and i see them outside all of the time conversing with eachother...having barbeques and such. they never bother anyone, i used to go to one of the houses for fish fry fridays. well about two years ago this white family moved in next to them and renovated one of the larger houses that had another family living in it previously. the house was in serious need of repair and the white family did a good job of picking it up. they put up new siding, added a new porch, did some landscaping and re-paved the side walk. then all of the sudden they erected an eight foot tall fence around the perimeter of the house. i was offended cause this family did a great job to increase the property value and the appearance of the neighborhood then all of the sudden they erect a giant fence to hide behind and keep everyone out. thats when i realized that americans have an obsession with marking our propery and possessions. its like we lack unity because of this, we are afraid of getting too close to our neighbors so we put up 'friendly' boundaries tomark our territories. when i studied abroad in spain, i lived with a host family. we lived in suburbia, the houses looked the same but none had fences. we would sit outside on the patio at night and the neighbors would non-chalantly drift over and join us. we could hear their music and birds chirping all the time. nobody objected to us walking through thier lawn to get to another house. doors and windows were left wide open during the day. this really put things into perspective. everyone there had a very small personal space and privacy level but it never seemed to irk anyone. i could brush up against some stranger in the market without feeling uncomfortable, and makign eye contact with strangers was never rude. so all this put things into perspective. i realized that as an american, i box myself into these boundaries that while they make me feel comfortable, they dont allow a certain level of comfort and friendship and neighborly friendship. i was taught in kindergarten the 'personal bubble' which extended the lenght of my arms and nobody was allowed inside of it unless i allowed them. now adays i have extended that bubble to my room, to my car, and to the fences and walls i live within. i walk around looking at the ground as to avoid that fleeting moment of uncomfortable eye contact with a stranger and i beg for forgiveness when i accidentally touch someone i do not know. does anyone else notice this? there must be something i can do....
we were discussing this in my literature/poetry class, after reading that robert frost poem "mending walls"
its some crazy shit we do to feel safe and guarded