Hi, folks -- it's me, Josh Kornbluth, neurotic monologuist from Berkeley! It's so cool to be here to perform "Citizen Josh," my latest collaboration with Arena's own David Dower.
Actually, it's really cool to be here -- considering that I went to the wrong airport to fly here from the Bay Area (San Francisco International, instead of Oakland) and only made my plane via the good graces of a cabdriver who went about 300 mph. I was so nervous about making my plane that I forgot to be frightened by the guy's somewhat reckless driving -- though I did take in many details of his long life story, from a misspent childhood in the Bronx to a failed furniture-supply business in Oakland and on through a series of marriages that must be a lot more fun to think about in retrospect.
A weird thing happened in the middle of the ride, though. The driver said, "You know, I'm not a racist, but I am prejudiced." Between the whooshing of the air coming in through the window cracks and the panicked squealing of my nerves, I wasn't able to hear what he said next. But I got the gist: The problem with cities today was that "they" had come in and ruined them.
So there I was, mid-panic regarding making my flight but also finding myself in a vehicle with someone whose political views (as much as I could make them out) I found abhorrent. What's more, if the gods were kind and I caught my flight, I'd get to Washington D.C. (and environs) and perform my piece about how we need to speak civilly across political lines, if we're to have any hope of participating in a healthy democracy. My first instinct was to try to meet this jolly but racist fellow at some ideological place we could agree on, then try to persuade him that some of his views were misguided. But then I thought of what my mom used to advise me -- "Don't waste your time and energy trying to convert bigots" -- and also reminded myself that this chatty cab driver currently had my life (and, okay, his own) in his beefy, sweaty hands.
So I held my tongue, and we got to Oakland Airport, and I paid him a gadjillion bucks that I would have no ethical basis for trying to get Arena Stage to reimburse me (there being no "performer's stupidity" line item in our show budget). And I ran up to the Jet Blue counter with my three heavy bags (I couldn't resist bringing a bunch of my democracy books with me!). And the woman at the counter was, in the cab driver's terms, one of "them" (heck, maybe just the fact that she was a woman would have made her an "other" in his eyes). And you know, sometimes you go up to someone at a counter, and you're stressed, and the person doesn't acknowledge your stress. But this woman did: She dealt with my anxiety (and with the anxiety of several other late-arrivers) with kindness and professionalism. I was so grateful and relieved that I tried to especially thank her; in retrospect, perhaps I over-thanked her; but she was already busy helping the next people who needed her immediate attention.
My travels, in the adventure of this run of "Citizen Josh," were only beginning -- but already, as I settled into my seat on the plane, I felt I had traversed a great distance: from panic, to despair, and finally to renewed hope -- hope that we might be moving towards a society where we forgo demonizing "them" (whoever "they" may be) and instead celebrate living in a wide and diverse community of "us." (The U.S. of "US"?) It could happen! I mean, just look at me: I started off going in the wrong direction, and yet ended up in the right place (Washington-Dulles).
And starting in a couple of days, I'll get to see you -- assuming, that is, that I successfully navigate my way to the theater! I hope we can talk!
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