Big western cities like Houston give people lots of room to develop themselves and their lives into what they want them to be. I guess that’s part of the allure of what is sometimes referred to as the “american dream”.
I mean you can go from one part of Houston and suddenly find yourself in a totally different situation to what you were in five minutes earlier. I have friends and acquaintances all over the Houston area from the big ex-burbs like Katy, Sugarland, and the Woodlands and of course friends inside the city limits proper. They all swear that their part of Houston is the best and can’t imagine how people can live in other parts of town. People can find the part of town that best suits them and live the type of life that they want.
But beyond just mere geography there lies another type of life that we can lead. The individual interests, the pass times, the hobbies. Whatever you want to call them. I find it amazing how wrapped up and how into these things people can get. People can get so into these things that they barely notice that there are other worlds out there.
I tend to drift between a variety of different worlds and different groups so I’ve had the opportunity to observe these various sub-cultures interact and express themselves in their own natural surroundings.
Some examples?
Back in January I was at a big art gallery party held in what used to be a factory. Crowded from top to bottom with well dressed people, loud music, food and drink. Models, artists, and local luminaries all hobnobbing the evening away. Lots of back slapping and hearty handshakes as people got re-acquainted or met new friends and contacts.
In the Fall and Winter I go to book readings downtown. A local group invites notable authors and they come to Houston to read from their latest books. Sometimes it’s a well-known personality, sometimes a barely known author. I can already recognize some of the audience members as regulars and I get the sense that this is a group that has a long history.
A couple of weeks ago I was at an anime convention at the George R Brown. Kids and adults all dressed up in costumes and walking nonchalantly around. Nobody really giving them a second thought. Most of the vendors, staff, and speakers at these events travel on a convention circuit and see each other all the time.
A few months ago I was at a boxing match. Now, my idea of boxing matches were moodily lit events with maybe a couple dozen guys around a ring in some grungy gym. But this was a large hall with thousands of people and valet parking. Very well-organized and looking around I got the sense that a lot of these people came to these fights regularly and knew one another.
The two things I noticed in all four of these situations was:
1. A real sense of community within these groups. They were fully developed sub-cultures. Individuals in these groups were totally comfortable within these situations.
2. I am fairly certain that if I asked individuals within these sub-cultures about the other sub-cultures that they would either not know anything about those groups or almost nothing about them.
This leads back to my observation of how this large city allows people to find and express themselves in their own part of the city and lead the type of life that they want to lead. I find it fascinating to travel from one to another.
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