Driving Through a Parisian Suburb

I went to Paris with little idea of how life was on its outskirts. I grew up in the Bronx and simply expected that what Parisians call the suburbs, would be somehow equivalent to an American inner-city. There's a difference between crippling third-world poverty and the kind of poverty that you'd expect to see in a developed country.

 

As soon as we crossed a tunnel informing us that we were in Paris, my girlfriend looked to her left and spotted a family living in an underpass. I hadn't seen people living in such a visibly public place in any other city in Europe. The individuals were Sub-Saharan African, and I felt a squeeze in my heart, not sure if it was something that I was going to be seeing during my entire trip to Paris. But it wasn't just black people like me, the homelessness was systemic.

 

We drove a bit past the underpass, and came upon slow traffic near the red light that would finally release us into the city's inner roads. But as our car stood in that row of traffic, we noticed a group of teenage North African window washers. I precognitively saw them deciding to wash the car with foreign plates and a blonde driver at the wheel, and indeed I was right. Even as we waved and said no, they still grabbed the wiper. I tapped the window, but they didn't relent and simply became aggressive.

 

I grew frustrated as they rubbed something in the driver's side, and I punched the inside of the windshield, before putting on my wild Bronx face. I stepped out of the car, looking angry, and hoping that they would back away. Fortunately they did, the light changed, and I sat back in as we drove away. Putting on my seat belt, I realized that my very first few minutes in Paris had involved seeing a family living in an underpass and confronting a group of young, aggressive businessmen.

 

I couldn't admit it to myself, but Paris reminded me more of Rio, with its favelas overlooking beauty and wealth, than a city like London or Berlin. Later that night, walking around the Bastille, we stumbled past a mother and her two children sleeping inside of a phone booth. Throughout the day, I had seen a disproportionately high number of posters for the marine corps asking: "are you already a marine without knowing it?"

 

I thought back to the French foreign legion, and how France now had inside of its own border a massively poor population of unassimilated individuals, much like the US. Like the US, France has enough people to use in its 21st century post-colonial entanglements abroad, much like the current one in Mali. Like the US, France seems to have its priorities in wrong order; no country should be waging foreign wars in distant lands when there are mothers sleeping with their children in phone booths.

 

Maybe Depardieu was right to leave and become a Russian citizen. Because, why would someone want to pay 75% taxes in a country so polarized?

America 2015: A Dystopic Nightmare

Today, Department of Homeland Security Police were involved in a deadly shootout with associated forces in a suburb of Austin, Texas. After receiving an anonymous tip, drones identified 6 enemy combatants inside the layered suburban compound. Drones did not fire on the compound, as police saw it better to extract evidence from the combatant's computers. A raid of the compound resulted in the death of 5 insurgents and the escape of 1.

 

Police have kept secret the identities -- as demanded by national security -- of the 5 enemy combatants legally killed in self-defense. "Since last year's domestic terrorist attack, we have worked diligently to prevent insurgents from plotting against innocent Americans," stressed DHS police chief for Texas John Snader.

 

Though the individuals terminated in today's earlier raids have not been identified, police revealed that three of the 5 were felons, having been convicted under HR 347 for trespassing in federal restricted buildings. The government also disclosed the age of the insurgents: 18, 18, 16, 44, 42. Had the government attempted the raid last week, it would have been faced with legal difficulties concerning the 16-year-old, who only became a military-aged insurgent in recent days. "We always take great care, great care, in ensuring that only military-aged insurgents are neutralized in any operation," stressed chief Snader.

 

Neighbors reported being shocked that the individuals inside of the home were involved in associated forces activities. "It's always who you least suspect," said neighbor Juan Diaz. The government has warned residents of increased terrorist activity in the area surrounding the suburb. The police have asked residents to report any suspicious individuals to their nearest Department of Homeland Security office. DHS has dispatched more VIPR teams to keep residents safe. They are conducting extra roadblocks and increasing drone surveillance of the surrounding areas.

 

"We so far have identified the individual who escaped as a disgrunted ex-soldier involved in far right circles. He has in the past e-mailed several individuals flagged in extremist activity, and should be considered armed and dangerous," said Chief Snader. The police have not made specific what charges the fugitee will face, but most likely charges will be unnecessary considering his ties to terrorism.

 

 

Interview with a Swedish Mailman

I found myself bored at home and hopped on the tram to Central Station. I immediately headed to one of my favorite places in Amsterdam: Cannabis College. It's different from a coffee shop because it's a more academic environment, and also there's a garden in the basement. A lot of people come in asking questions and the volunteers there are very knowledgeable, so you get a lot of intelligent people coming in who like to ask and answer questions.

 

I was feeling inspired yesterday, so I stayed around chatting with a random Swede who I first thought was Argentinean from his looks and accent. When he told me he was a mailman, I realized how different his life must be from mine, so I asked him if I could interview him.

 

"So, I deliver to about 1,000 doors a day. In Sweden, you put the mail through the door," began the mailman.

I interjected: "so, people know when you deliver the mail."

"Yea, some people wait anxiously for the mail to fall into their apartments. I mostly do apartment complexes which all look pretty much the same, only the number on the door is different. You work 5 apartment complexes, and you just don't know where you are because you have done the same over and over, so you lose perspective of time and place. I'm a new generation mailman, so we don't have a regular district [zip code] that we work. I go to a different district every day. The post office doesn't hire any new employees, so I just have a temporary contract. The old timers (40-50) know their districts and are three times faster because they know their doors. They work 1 hour and lounge around for another 2. I don't know what they do for those 2 hours, but they know people in their districts, so it's possible that they hang out with some of the people they work with.  When I show up to a new door, people come out and I have to say, 'oh, hi, I'm new.'"

 

I thought his work sounded a bit distant in how detached it could be, so I asked him how people saw their mailman.

"People generally enjoy the mailman. It's a daily occurrence. Mondays and Tuesdays is commercials [ads] and sometimes when the commercials don't arrive, it's pretty clear that people just want a reason to come to their doors and talk. It's encumbering."

 

I asked, "have there been times when people definitely didn't want you to come by?"

"Yes, there was this time I had ten envelopes from bill collectors going to one single address. The old man came to me before I even entered the building and told me not to bother attempting to deliver the letters, to just throw them away. Funny stuff like that happens -- there was also the time that I delivered the wrong mail to a sister in one building, and had to deal with the other sister in the building next door. The first sister called the second one and the second one went on a rant, I just had to stand there and apologize for 10 minutes before she finally calmed down."

 

I can't imagine having to confront people on their own turf, and I imagine Sweden to be cold. "How do you get around?" I asked.

"I generally travel 5 km by scooter. The cold can be pretty bad, but it's rewarding work in summer."

 

"And why did you decide to become a mailman?" I asked.

 

"Well, I first thought about what cause I wanted to support. Could I work at McDonald's? I don't think so because it's a not a cause that I support or that I think benefits society. I work as a mailman part time and teach the rest of the time. To study in Sweden is for free and I get 1,000 euros from the government every month. So, I naturally wanted to do something that contributed to the system that is contributing to me. I saw delivering mail as a cause that I did not oppose. Delivering mail: it's something that feels good. To me it was the most rational decision."

 

Interesting, I liked his approach to causes and rational decisions. I tell him I am a vegan and he tells me that he is one too. "So, how long have you been vegan?" I asked.

"Well, I have been vegan a few months, but I was vegetarian before that. I see meat as an addiction that has to be removed. Not eating meat to me is the most rational decision. I asked myself, 'is this benefiting me?' I thought that you'd be a madman to choose otherwise."

 

The mailman used the word 'madman' several times. Eventually the conversation turned to whether he supported locally made goods and whether he had traveled abroad more than to just Holland. He had been to North America, but had eschewed entering the US because he saw it as undemocratic. I went on a rant about drones, the incarceration rate, indefinite detention, enhanced interrogation, rendition, and frankly think that I scared him from even going close to the US border. I am not generally impressed with people's professions, and at first I was impressed because I had never interacted with a mailman in a social setting, but it turns out that his outlook on the world was not that different from mine.