Portrait Of A Neighborhood At 5:00
The neighborhood at 5:00 is boring. Little kids, very few, are out playing basketball, creating a sound much like Chinese water torture. Everyone else is home, watching television I suppose. A few are coming home, driving at 20 miles per hour down the quiet street, careful to watch out for children. No one ever stays outside long. They come out to get the mail then go inside. Preoccupied with their lives. Stares and smiles are common, despite the fact that there is no recognition. They are merely a formality. It's most likely a rule in the covenant that one must look happy - to raise the value of the neighborhood. The all important covenant, which no one is thinking about at 5:00 at night. Certainly not us, with our garage door open or the boy down the street with the permanent basketball net. At 5:00 at night we are all involved in our own world, oblivious to everyone else in the neighborhood with fake smiles, pausing at their mailbox to check for bills.