Absurdity

"The world in which we were called to exist was an absurd world, and there was no other in which we could take refuge." Albert Camus

There are so many times when I am struck by the utter absurdity of our lives, our times and our communities. Absurd. If you say it over and over it hardly seems like a word. But once in a while it captures a moment so perfectly that it is not only a word, it is THE word...the one word that makes sense of the senseless.

I know this sounds like something one might utter after a few too many beers just before your head thunks down on the bar. But it actually occurred to me over coffee and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on January 3. Palm Beach County is the San Juan Capistrano of absurdity...bringing people here because of their extreme wealth and chaining people here due to their poverty. (I hate to go all John Edwards here since I'm still hoping to vote for Hillary in 2008, but Palm Beach County is the epitome of his "Two Americas" viewpoint.)

Front page local headline: "Equestrian worry starts to ease" (Wellington, FL)

Front page headline: "Drive-by gunfire kills baby: Five injured in barrage of bullets; shooters still at large" (Riviera Beach, FL)

One could draw line connecting these two communities which would be about 21 miles long and would take about 30 minutes to drive. At point A, citizens can relax now that the Winter Equestrian Festival can proceed as planned on January 24, despite some health concerns about the horses. At point B, citizens are mourning the death of an 8-month old baby who was "safely" strapped into his car seat and seeing to the recovery of the baby's mother and the four others who were injured. One of the injured was a car radio installer who happened to be there doing a job. It is a neighborhood to which police have been called with reports of overt drug dealing.

My guess is that the citizens of point A are reassuring themselves that their privileged lives have nothing to do with the tragedy at point B because they would never have the bad judgment to choose a neighborhood  where there is overt drug dealing (the covert drugs that the privileged kids and adults use are somehow not related). The citizens of point B cannot fathom having a choice as to where to live. With "affordable" housing in Palm Beach county at around $400K, families are living in houses or apartments that are the size of master bedrooms in Wellington (or Boca Raton for that matter).

What other word besides absurd better describes a 21 mile difference between worrying about assault rifles and worrying about stadium jumping? How can one compare the worries about an equine herpes outbreak and a baby shot to death in his car seat? What will happen if the Polo Club's matches don't start on time? What choices are there for people struggling to get by but having to take a leap of faith just to walk to church or the grocery store?

And more absurd still...the only commonality between point A and point B and these two scenarios may be the $50K Lincoln Navigator. At point A, it's a symbol of wealth and conspicuous consumption within which one totes the kids to school, riding lessons, soccer games and concert band practice. At point B, it's a symbol of drug dealers and the vehicle from which they can spray bullets while barreling through a neighborhood street. Absurd.

Comments

[bojo]

I cannot believe that people actually use the ink to print such nonsense of something that absolutely means nothing to anyone!!!