Snowing again.
Did you know that the 5th largest industry in Ithaca (right after bagel production) is snow plowing?
There's a flotilla of pickups mounted with snow plows out there, waiting for the first flake to fall. Guys work 8 hours at Therm or Wilcox Press or wherever, then head home to plow all the convenience store parking lots and driveways from Newfield to Dryden.
In an otherwise flat economy, it's been a good year for the snow plow industry. Tax free revenue, cash on delivery. Ithaca's white economy.
Whatever pays the bills. Hey, there's a new career path for you. Move up from collecting cans and bottles for redemption. (Ithaca's third largest industry.)
Of course, most residents in the city live in a bubble and wouldn't have a clue about snowplows. Town and Country - the great divide but really only one of many. Let's try to name some others -- town and gown, black and white, rich and poor, Fall Creek and the rest of Ithaca, Ithaca College/Cornell, native Ithacan/transient, vegetarian/carnivore, young/old, Cornell employee/otherwise employed, mentally ill/boringly normal, college educated/high school graduate, working class/white collar, gay-lesbian/straight, trendy-progressive-organic/white bread. Can you name some others?
These are the differences, after all, that make Ithaca a divided place. No melting pot here. What and who you are determines where you live, where you eat, what if any kind of car you drive, where you shop, where you party, what newspaper you read, movies you see, and how close you are to the centers of power. The spin is that Ithaca is a diverse community. Reality is that it's a battleground
of class, race, attitude, social behavior. The rumble at Pete's a few months back was just one indicator of the divide that separates
members of the community. Poor whites hate blacks. Townies sneer at country folk(but like to go out and scoop up fresh veggies and cider.) . Native Ithacans hate students (but take their cash!) Cornellians try to avoid going downtown. They pride themselves on being a self-sustaining enclave. Rightwingers out in Freevile hate granola-munching progessives. Ain't it fun? Only the Ithaca Festival seems to bring folks together.
The Ithaca Festival! I could wax poetically on Ithaca's grand celebration of community spirit. The balletic Volvos, dozens of civc-minded groups marching on downtown, falafels, crafts, you name it. Sad to say, the Ithaca Festival leaves me cold. Much to do about nothing, Retro carnie stuff. People who most of the year have not a thing to say to eachother suddenly converge in a three block radius of Ithaca. Coming together for the single purpose of spending or making money! Yetch!
Commerce - the miserable, flinty heart of America. Why should Ithaca be any different? You got that right - it's not!
Comments invited at: ezrakidder@gmail.com - Peace, Ezra at 9:16 AM
