Homesick?

I watched the movie Once tonight. I HIGHLY recommend it. (As long as you understand it's Irish, and being Irish, they use "the 'F-WORD'" a great deal.) The film is based in Ireland - Dublin to be specific. I was in Dublin on October 31-November 2, 2006. Watching this movie brought back so many memories and emotions, and also really made me reflect on US culture vs. European culture.

There's one scene where the female lead has to walk about three blocks away from her flat to get batteries for a CD player. As I watched her walking back, earphones blasting (beautiful) music, wearing sheep slippers, robe, and PJs, I found myself getting nervous for her. I kept tensing up, waiting for some thug to either leap from the shadows or creep up behind her as she walked alone at night. I'm not giving anything important about the movie by saying that she was NOT mugged. When she got back home however, I realized that she had no fear of walking down the street at night. She had no fear of being alone. She had (or at least showed no fear) of her city. Can we claim the same? I am sad to guess that I don't think most Americans in most cities would feel the same sense of peace walking alone at night. I live in suburbia, and I drive to the grocery store about a quarter-mile down the road from me - regardless of the time.

Now, I feel I both ought to and ought not mention the fact that safety is not the sole reasoning Americans have for driving everywhere rather than walking. We're a fat lot of lazy bumps for the most part. There. I said it. Another reason, in all fairness is: especially in suburbia, everything is so spread out, it's impractical to walk most places. Depending on the area, the local grocer's may not even be within a reasonable bike-riding distance. *sigh*

My dear friend Sully and I have often talked about this dichotomy. We've come to agree that the suburban sprawl in conjunction with the appalling lack of sidewalks, is not only contributing to the "obesity epidemic," (PLEASE don't let me get started on that crap) but also contributing to the steep decline in the sense of community in small-town America at large. Again: *sigh*

I titled this entry: "Homesick?" for a reason. Watching the movie tonight, I felt such a strong urge to return to Ireland, I can only describe it as homesickness. While in Cork, my wife and I struck up conversations with perfect strangers, and were quickly treated to an Irish helping (similar to "heapin' helpin'" in the states) of genuine openness, friendliness, genuineness, and hospitality. The hospitality was most memorable from this list, I think. We were in a pub. The guy with whom we were talking didn't own the pub, but the fact was: we were on his island, and as his guests, he would take pains to see that we were looked after. The best part: he wasn't the exception to the rule. We experienced similar hospitality in Dublin by a group of three friends in another pub. As far as they were concerned, as long as we were in their city, we were friends. (Yes, this included exchanged rounds of Guinness.)

I bring all this up with a complaint about the lack of city pride, ownership, and community responsibility in mind, but my complaining won't change anything. On such a deep level, I ache to live in a place where perfect strangers are assumed friends. I yearn for a sense of pride in my town that influences me to make sure that out-of-towners are taken care of. I so DESPERATELY desire to live in a place where I can breathe the air without resentment.

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Wow, I just opened another can of worms. I resent my city. Is that bad? If I'm a horrid person for that, I'm sorry, but that's how I feel. I won't go into it (I actually just deleted two paragraphs of me whining), but I would love suggestions.

On that note, feel free to distribute this address to any who you might think would enjoy it. I'm not looking for readers; I'm looking for kindreds.