Drama In The Arts District

It's really something what you'll see if you hang around and watch. It's particularly interesting to me what you'll see on your very own residential sides street if you just linger for a few minutes, but no one really does that except for me. Be it the middle of a working day or the middle of the night, remarkable things happen. They are just rather subtle and go unnoticed by most people. I try as hard as I can to notice them.

A week or so ago, I saw a real human drama playing out before me. Most people think they have to watch reality television for the illusion of one, or else be branded a peeper for looking into someone's home, but there are real stories illuminating the human condition right there on those neighborhood streets, with one possible exception being the streets in rich neighborhoods where no one ever walks even a little.

Here's how it was: I was walking the neighbors' dog (as you had to suspect I would be given recent trends), and I was just about to bring her inside when I heard a voice declaring possession of a spot. I took that to mean that a parking space was in dispute, and I realized that it was over by the alley that runs through our block north and south. I had just seen a gaggle of people enacting what appeared to be some kind of reunion.

I didn't hang around to see how things finished, but I can imagine that it was heated. Parking in that alley is a sore subject with seemingly every business owner whose space abuts it. The consequences of parking on the White House lawn wouldn't seem to be so severe, and these people were not just occupying a business owner's private space but blocking entrance to and egress from that alley. I wish I could have stayed, because that would have been just about any kind of formally prepared entertainment. You've got to really be open to what's in front of you to benefit from life.