adric | "No, thanks. You can leave now."

Ah the clarity of hindsight..

As I was leaving the house to go to work tonight, I was surprised to hear

sotto_voce speaking to someone. When I made it out front and asked, she said "There were people." meaning, I thought, the generic Asian neighbours. I quipped that she shouldn't speak, it would startle them. A few moments later while were bemoaning the early November Christmas decorations at some retail store, I was addressed unclearly by a man in a bulky winter coat and fuzzy hat who was walking up the sidewalk holding what looked like a large bag of potato chips. I somehow encouraged him to repeat himself and he intoned "Need your car cleaned for the holidays?" (I think).

To which I repiled with some sharpness, as above, "No thanks. You can leave now."

And, to her exclamation of mild dismay, I climbed in the car and we both left. This kicked off an entire complex of ethical and political thoughts.

At first I thought of calling the cops. Certainly his presence is undesired, and I quite doubt he is a resident. What did he do wrong, I asked? Well, it is posted private property and there's a 'no soliciting' sign too. I think his greatest crime is making me feel like the neighbourhood is suddenly going to hell. I expect that kind of crap downtown, and it's part of why I don't live here. Just about everyone in our little hideaway drives a rather expensive car, and I expect they nearly all have at least one job.

And then back the other way. Is trespassing really a crime? No .. Did he actually harm me or anyone? No, just perhaps discomfit. Did he scare me? So are my feelings of violent speech towards him just? Why do I believe our neighbourhood is somehow safe from bums and crime? It's not, really. What is so compelling about the idea of moving away from it/them? Why did/do people keep trying 'White Flight'? Should I have given him the "Class War not Race War" t-shirt and then run him out of the community?

And although this specimen in unlikely to be in any need, what does a remotely just society do for the homeless, for charity cases who are strangers? Is this what people like big government for? If they have no family, and no affiliation, are they somehow someone else's responsibility? .. and then there's teaching versus giving fish.

Aaaaaaaugh. Shut up brain!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

The intensity of your reaction shows that this is connected to a deeper issue within your psyche. Continuing to think about it- exploring it- maybe free writing about it, drawing it, etc may lead to deep insights. Also, pay attention to your dreams. If you're interested in this sort of thing, I recommend the following- Go through this post with a notebook and pen. Write down every element of the interaction in list form- i.e. Man, potato chip bag, bum, Generic Asians, sotto_voce, neighborhood, Class, War, Race, t-shirt. community, crime, downtown, resident, expensive car, charity, car wash, holidays, family, affiliation, someone else's responsibility, etc. Then go back and write down your associations with each item on the list- write the first thing that comes to your head (logical or not) and don't edit yourself. If more than one association comes for some things, or a "thought flow" gets triggered, go with it. You may discover some hugely insightful things, and perhaps get some kind of "answer" to what's going on with you re this.

....Also it will make your brain shut up :)

He was legitimately there to clean our neighbor's carpet. He had just hauled a large carpet shampooer into their home with the help of another worker, before you came outside. He seemed friendly enough when he spoke to me, although he mumbled and it was hard to understand what he said. I think that is why I reacted with such disapproval when you reprimanded him - he was just a man doing his job and trying to drum up new business. His request if we needed our carpets cleaned for the holidays, while perhaps ill-timed in the dark parking lot, did actually correspond to our conversation about the oncoming holidays.

Also, when I first drove up to the house this afternoon, I found a carpet cleaning card stuck in the door. I put the card on the table inside the door. I imagine it has his number on it, if you feel so inclined.

Huh. I have to say that I already did that, and it is the post .. I'm not sure I could free associate much more. It did sit in my head for 1/2 an hour while I drive in and sat in traffic.

No notable crystalization, no new insight. I don't like People, overall.

Also: the last person to sneak up on me in that parking lot was a cop. I suppose that's salient

Huh.

Also: the last person to sneak up on me in that parking lot was a cop. I suppose that's salient. He was looking for 'not my exroommate but has same name and a criminal record' and was overall pretty scary if courteous.

All of my thoughts of police are heavily darkened by highway robbery incidents.

No I mean like this, for example:

Bum: Ass, the guy outside the bank when I was five who took my hand and led me away, to be lazy, lying by the stream on a sunny afternoon, scary, someone who takes children...

Cop: Scary, jail, unfair, unyielding, no repreice, caught, strapped to table, bloodtest, locked up, hate, angry....

and soforth...

Ooooh. Well that just doesn't seem like a good idea, at least not here in the office.

Maybe at a later date when I'm suitably restained or the walls are smooshy.

Oh, you can answer one of my lazyweb questions: Where should I start reading Jung at, which work or text?

Oh Lord, that's quite a question. Actually you should start reading Jung by reading people that are based on Jung ie David Kiersey and Marylin Bates, Joseph Campbell, etc- disciples of Jung or people talking about Jung, or who have been inspired by Jung....because they are WAY more approachable. Jung is like an eternal circle- no beginning or end or methodical way to learn, you just have to kind of drop in and keep reading and eventually you'll get it. Then, once you've read about Jung, and you feel ready, you can enter Jung himself....Actually, maybe start with a google search on like "Jung" + "Mandala"....or just Jung and go from there, following what interests you...

Oh, and when you ARE ready for Jung on Jung...read "Man and his Symbols" first.

"No, thanks. You can leave now."

Forever Jung...

Context you didn't witness

Re: Forever Jung...

Re: Context you didn't witness

Re: Forever Jung...

Re: Forever Jung...

Re: Forever Jung...

Re: Forever Jung...