see after-thoughts below
this place of sheer misery,
but as I seem stuck here,
thinking about it seems inevitable....
Thinking of El Paso, Texas, the word which springs to mind is PRIMITIVE.
I've heard that word used in very nasty ways, but then when something is very dirty
perhaps a nasty word is justified...
"Dirty" not sexy!
I had a rather unsatisfying conversation earlier today at the so-called Glass Box,
a pretentious upstairs from a factory space which houses a variety of artistic
and craft workshops as well as a theater group and a dance group.
The place is filthy.
The floors are dirty and dusty, and, consequently the air is not clean.
A legitimate reason for this (or perhaps "cause") beyond the control of the renters
is that the building itself has not got sealed windows. What exactly does that mean?
I don't know. But, someone collects rent, so,... well? I guess the rent is low, but,
well, so I suppose that means there are no laws in El Paso, TExas?--no building codes? CAn it really be legal to have residents in
so (faute de mieux) primitive a structure?
Indeed, what are the working conditions for the workers who work below? Might
their working conditions actually be primitive?--and unpleasant, even unhealthy?
At any rate, I don't understand why the residents or owners of the Glass Box (better called the Sand Box or the Dirt Box in light of the filth there) don't bother to mop and sweep.
The rather lame excuse I heard was that due to El Paso's wind and dust, there was no point.
If they were to sweep and mop today, tomorrow it would be dirtier again.
Well, yes, but the question is: If you sweep and mop today (even two or three times if need be), will it be less dirty and less dusty tomorrow?
I am reminded of the joke: Why wash? You'll only get dirty again. Obviously, that strategy is idiotic for personal hygiene, and I can't see it is less medieveal if we are talking about a building where many people work--let alone a place which advertises itself as a location where the public can enjoy art and artistic events. Is Shakespeare supposed to be better if the floor is dirty and dusty? Or should we be seeing Brecht or some Communist play about suffering workers? Should we suffer their miserable working conditions as part of a lefty play?
In fact this attitude towards cleanliness strikes me as simply medieval, hence again primitive.
In the nineteenth century working and middle-class families were obsessed with cleanliness. Even if they had only one set of clothes, the men would go around naked as their work clothes were washed and dried. That high standard of cleanliness--that nineteenth century standard---is higher than anything I've seen locally. (See my earlier blog entry about the filth and dirt at the theater of "Chapin High School.) Hence, my remark that El Paso is positively primitive, even medieval.
another excuse:
Well, factories are dirty!
There are workshops here! Have you ever seen a car factory?
My response:
Well, actually a couple of years ago I was in an auto factory belonging to Kia Motors, the Korean company, a factory located in Slovakia, in Central Europe. And the factory was immaculate--110% clean. Apparently in modern factories everything is very high tech, and there are lots of computers, so dirt and dust would be damaging. To judge from the remarks I heard today at the Glass (Sand) Box, either El Paso or the USA has not yet reached that technical level..... hence once again, not exactly up-t0-date, or contemporary, or advanced, so primitive or medieval...... and sadly so....
after-thoughts (added 21 June)
where did I get the idea of pretentiousness from? Was that unfair? Well, I suppose writing later, it now seems that most people associated with gbox are sincere; and I cringe a bit when I re-read this and think of them......but "pretentious" is not the harshest criticism you can make... and while I don't recall exactly what I had in mind at the time of writing, I do think there are elements of elitism---the thought that we are something like an "exclusive" or "alternative" society here.......and while I myself am very uncomfortable in this country, it is hard for me to take such exclusionary tactics completely seriously.......because the most sophisticated among the USA citizen seem to employ certain patterns of thought that I find alien.....but which seem omnipresent in the world's largest owner of weapons of mass destruction (e.g., the belief that hard work always pays--which is tantamount to the denial of something I take to be demonstrably false, viz., that the USA has a class structure.....)
As for the dirt in the place, since writing this I've met the man responsible for cleaning up, and I have the impression that he is over-worked; so, I wouldn't like to add to his burdens.....
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