Empty Chairs At Empty Tables
Last Saturday evening I took a walk through my neighborhood. I visited a couple of grocery stores, a local bar / restaurant, two coffee shops and walked the trendiest block in Long Beach; 4th Street between Cherry and Junipero.
Aside from the good exercise from my nearly two-hour
journey, I was able to take note of some interesting things. I noticed how every location offered a
different thing to people, but in each one community was being realized.
The grocery stores had folks buying their necessary food
items. The employees were helpful in
asking customers if they help. At the
bar, I ran into a friend who was celebrating his birthday. He was happy to see me as I was to see
him. At one coffee shop, live jazz
played by a four-piece band was heard. What
a delight for listeners to hear tunes and enjoying the moment of creativity and
sonic bliss. The other coffee shop I
walked through had a full house listening to stand up comedy. Although the topics were not to my liking,
there was community there nonetheless.
There were two large buildings I noticed which were empty
and locked this Saturday night. They had
signs outside with the invitation “All Are Welcomed Here.” What struck me was that the option to be
there wasn’t available to the community.
There was no sense of community happening in them as was elsewhere. It is said that community and service grows
and originates in these places, but not tonight. I’ve noticed many times passing these same
buildings in the past them typically being closed and not ‘open for
business.’ I think these places should
be opened and offering a good reason to be occupied. If places such as these are not available,
then what truly is their purpose?
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