And as I walked across the parking lot, I noticed a slim teenager struggling with a large
barrel, which, it emerged, was full of garbage.
I offered to help him, and he readily accepted my offer.
We began to talk.
A week ago I could have had some chance of recalling his exact words, but the chaos of my life prevented me from sitting down to write about this incident--until now.
He was being punished. What was his crime? "holding"--that was his word.
But he did not say that he was being punished, he said that he was performing "community service".
My head spun at the implications of this bizarre situation. Here was a young man, evidently moving these barrels (there was a second one) with great difficulty. He was slim and not especially muscular.
(Here I cannot resist expressing my joy when recently I read at the site put up by the dancer/choreographer/founder of the Axis Technique (Frey Faust) an essay by a dancer
about the unnatural and unhealthy consequences of using machines to build up one's muscles.......And to that memory I should add another skill I have acquired in this desert outpost: the capacity to recognize the young soldiers who are omnipresent in El Paso. Typically they are a bit over-fed, but have over-size muscles which, I speculate, were produced by the machines criticized by the Axis teacher.....and it's not a long step from there to imagine what sorts of contracts might have been signed by members of the military and private companies.....more of the same exploitation that consists in allowing young soldiers to take out loans in order to purchase motorcycles, and placing a dealership for said motorcycles precisely on military bases....)....
Nonetheless, I wish I could describe his voice. Maybe he was a bit resigned--not angry or sad. Maybe he was matter-of-fact as he explained his situation.
I don't know at what point I let my anger escape=--anger at the stupidity of all this . Here was a young boy who smoked marijuana. He was being punished for it. His punishment was being asked to perform a useful task, an honest task, a task which must be performed if the local YMCA is to function. But that piece of honest work is regarded as low status.
What counts as high status work in this society? Mostly "work " which is much less positive, much less of a real contribution.
The youth also indicated that he had problems at home. Financial problems had forced the family to move. They could not pay their rent.
Well, I could imagine that: troubles at home, you want a release, and so you smoke a bit of marijuana.
I hasten to add: I myself don't enjoy the experience of being "high"; but I know many people who do.
Of course, there is also a nasty or cruel element of this punishment. It was just a coincidence that I was there when the youth was dragging the barrels across the parking lot. I presume that usually he doesn't get help. And, what's more, how could the adult in charge fail to notice that the young man can't really lift up and carry the heavy barrels? Isn't there a bit of sadism in this punishment?
What a sick country.
Recommended Reading
"Drawbacks to Fitness Machines as a Training Modality" by Sebastian Grubb, June 2011
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