This one’s about how I came to understand power. We tend to view power from an upward perspective. We immediately get these visions of people who have more than we do, control more than we do, have more personal freedom than us. Truth is, I actually came to understand power through a series of events that found me looking downward. I came to understand Power through the eyes of what one might call the downtrodden.
The first event happened at a stop light. I was picked up that afternoon, to help with some techy work, by my wife’s uncle Joe. We’re riding and talking, talking and riding. We stopped at a light at the corner of Richmond Road and Monticello Blvd. Nothing particularly interesting or out of the ordinary happening, except that a man, clearly dressed too hot for the weather, is now crossing the street in front of us. Very slowly. I mean like “Get ready to unload the gats” slowly. So, we’re watching him. And watching him. And watching him. The light turns green. At this point, the man is barely halfway past our car. Not knowing whether he was mentally unstable or not, we do not cause a scene and allow another ten or so seconds to let him pass. “What the hell is wrong with people”, I say to Joe. He says something that changes my whole world view. “Power”, he responded. “Power?”, I ask. He goes on to explain how the guy crossing the street walks the world feeling powerless. His only sense of control or “power” are in moments like this, where he can inflict his will on others. We can’t move forward until he decides. These gestures are, in essence, his expression of power.
You ever have one of those moments where you see a car you like, or a friend buys a new car, and then for weeks afterward, it seems like everywhere you look, there is that car? Well this was one of those moments. Except is was permanent. From then on out, I would view these little life annoyances differently. They stand out to me now. Sometimes I even exclaim “There it is!”.
The second event happened first thing in the morning one day, as I was walking out of my job to find myself some breakfast. Directly outside of the building, there used to be a small park. This park came complete with benches, trees, cubby holes, and even some nooks that could be used as fairly decent hiding places. The park was divided in half by a walkway, with benches propped on either side.
This particular morning, there was a man, who appear to be homeless, sleeping facing toward me on a bench, as I walked past. When I passed him, I was a little shocked by what I noticed. Or I should say, what I didn’t notice. Like Pants on his ass. He was sleeping on the bench with his ass out to the world, his jeans snuggly around his thighs. And boy did he look comfortable. Now, I can’t tell this story without mentioning that I’m not an early morning person and my reflexes and mental acuity ain’t worth a damn at the crack of dawn. That’s a pun. So I opt for “That’s wild” and keep walking.
After securing breakfast, I return through the park. This time though, there’s a small crowd starting to gather. As I approach, I hear one lady say “Somebody’s gotta do something!”. There’s two teenagers, who look to be headed to school taking pictures and laughing. I never stop walking. As I pass a coworker, he says “Did you see that guy? What the hell is that?”. I respond “Power”.
The third event happened a few blocks from the second. I had just left my job for the day with a coworker. As we enter the parking garage, we here a voice behind us. We turn around and there a small frail-looking lady trailing slightly behind us. “Can you spare some change”, she says in a slight whisper. I say No, and begin to turn and walk, but my coworker goes into his pockets. “Bless you”, she says immediately. He gives the lady all of the coins he has in his pocket. The lady looks at the change, looks at him, looks at the change, looks at him and says “Aww baby, you gotta do better than THAT!” I involuntarily explode into laughter. My coworker has this stuck, deer in the headlights look on his face. “What am I gonna do with this”, she scoffs. He looks at me. I shrug my shoulders like Robin Harris and Uncle Ray in the “Pinky Toe” scene in Harlem Nights. He fetches a few bucks for her from his pocket. She blesses him again and leaves. “What the fuck, Bobby”, he says with a confused look on his face. “Power”, I tell him.
Now it may be curious that three individuals who may or may not have been homeless vastly expanded my understanding of power. That, just like the mental persuasion of seeing that familiar car, I am just locked in on poor folks irritating the hell out of more well to do people. The way I see it though, what I learned was that power comes in many forms. It doesn’t always require money. It doesn’t always require verbalizing. It isn’t even always necessarily good. But we all, in our nature, possess a degree of power. The trick is that we find it, grow it, and without ass flashing people, use it to put a little more good into the world.