I live in a Wohngemeinschaft. That can (I guess) be translated "living community." It's a style of living together (I have 5 roommates) that developed in the German left/student movement of the 1960s--Kommune 1 , they of the revolution against bourgeois sexuality and the attempt to assassinate the U.S. vice president with custard--are cited as the first WG. WGs were supposed to replace the awful bourgeois family. But WGs are still popular and no longer necessarily radical--the newspaper just did an article on WGs (as they're called) and apparently something like 50% of women and 33% of men think that WGs for older people are "the living form of the future." (Tagesspiegel 21.10.2006) (Of course, our's is very radical.)
It's not just having 5 roommates--it's supposed to be a community. On the one hand, the work of daily living is divided--we all have cleaning jobs, we take turns shopping for groceries. But it's more than sharing work. We have breakfast together (often). When someone cooks dinner, she cooks for everyone who happens to be home, and we end up eating together.
One of my national traits is supposedly independence/individualism and selfish competitiveness that conflicts with the building of community (or so I've learned from talking to people who know a lot about Americans). The example to illustrate this that was offered by one of my roommates is Subway. Where everyone can get their sandwich just the way they want it. But there you are with your individual, unique sandwich, but aren't you lonely and dis-located from your fellow humans, forlorn American?
(This loneliness may be what makes us want so badly to collect all the world's oil.)
3 comments:
You know, that's a pretty obnoxious thing to say. As though there's something morally wrong about wanting a sandwich that you would enjoy, rather than a sandwich that someone else figures most people might like.
Of course, this might just be my deep, unending hunger for light sweet crude talking.
Sometimes the less fortunate, by which I mean non-Americans, really annoy me. I for one cannot possibly see what is wrong with wanting a sandwich that accords to one's taste. For example, I cannot stand mayonaise. Why should I be forced to suffer a sandwich with mayo simply because more people like mayo than dislike it, therefore Subway, in a misguided attempt to appease the community, makes all its sandwiches with mayonaise? Personally, I have also found that going to Subway also fosters community, as friend with disparate tastes can all agree on Subway--where everyone can get a meal to their own liking/dietary requirements--which is not often the case if someone cooks.
Furthermore, I would also like to point out that the attack on Subway is coming from a radical group of people, as YSA points out. I noticed that you did not, or the article did not, provide statistics as to how many people are currently living in a WG. I'm making the daring proposition that you've simply managed to find a group of people who do not seem to realize that the wall down the street fell (of which I have a piece of in my drawer, courtesy of YSA).
And of course WGs "for older people are the living form of the future". They're called assisted living facilities. My grandparents have died in many of them across this nation.
Man, stereotypes are fun! Like stereotypes of Germans for example...
Maybe what your roommates would really enjoy is communal living on a much larger scale. For instance, what if they, and those like them, were "herded" into "camps" where they would be "forced" to participate in a variety of activities. Like breaking rocks or sewing wallets for export. Or having their fillings removed and melted down for scrap. Together! Not just dinner or breakfast or whatever.
And there would definitely be no need for them to try and figure out which specific sandwich ingredients best express them as a person. One size fits all dining would be the "strictly enforced" norm.
Moving on, I vote that, henceforward, CBAM be strictly prohibited from trying to help Tom and I argue our case for rugged individualism vs. communal living or, as I like to call it, "communism". I'm voting this way for three reasons, detailed as follows:
1. Her whining about mayonaise is making us look bad in front of the Germans.
2. No particular reason, just a general preference.
3. Voting in this way may get me another mention in her blog, and I crave the attention.
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