"Muslim cab drivers save Jewish bagel shop"

Here is a link to an NBC article I found to be relevant to our most recent course text, Lush Life. The story connects to the theme of coexistence in the city, which we have explored in recent discussions. It tells the story of two Muslim cab drivers who come together to save a kosher Jewish bagel shop which was started by a Polish immigrant in the 1920s.

The Suburbs

The TV show Weeds, created Jenji Kohan, critiques and compares inner city and suburban life in America. Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) plays a white, middle aged, widowed mother who begins to sell marijuana in order to maintain her wealthy suburban lifestyle after the death of her husband. Nancy lives in a wealthy suburb called Agrestic in California. Agrestic is a symbol of a perfect, wealthy, white, American suburb. In every episode, Kohan critiques this "perfect" white suburban lifestyle with the theme song "Little Boxes" written by Malvina Reynolds.

"Little Boxes"

Little boxes on the hillside,

Little boxes made of ticky tacky,¹

Little boxes on the hillside,

Little boxes all the same.

There's a green one and a pink one

And a blue one and a yellow one,

And they're all made out of ticky tacky

And they all look just the same.

And the people in the houses

All went to the university,

Where they were put in boxes

And they came out all the same,

And there's doctors and lawyers,

And business executives,

And they're all made out of ticky tacky

And they all look just the same.

And they all play on the golf course

And drink their martinis dry,

And they all have pretty children

And the children go to school,

And the children go to summer camp

And then to the university,

Where they are put in boxes

And they come out all the same.

And the boys go into business

And marry and raise a family

In boxes made of ticky tacky

they look just the same.

There's a green one and a pink one

And a blue one and a yellow one,

And they're all made out of ticky tacky

And they all look just the same.

"Little Boxes"

"Little Boxes" portraits white suburban life as dull. Everyone goes to the same university, everyone gets the same job and goes to the same coffee shop before work. Reynolds argues that this wealthy white American dream causes people to conform to what society believes is the correct way to live and raise a family. However, it really just makes everyone into the same boring person.

Nancy breaks the mold. Although, she still wants to enjoy her life in suburbia. She doesn't have a really job or money to support her family, so she resorts to selling weed. This brings up an interesting contrast. For many wealthy white families, the attraction of the suburbs is to avoid the violence, drugs, and conflict of the inner city. However when Nancy decides to start selling weed, she brings these inner city problems to Agrestic. For instance, at the end of season 3, Nancy buys protection from Guillermo, another drug dealer from the city. As a result, Guillermo begins a "war" between rival drug dealers to protect Nancy's business in Agrestic. However, when Guillermo burns down a local weed farm, it causes Agrestic to catch fire and burn to the ground.

Weeds also illustrates the racial tension between white suburbians and Nancy's black drug dealing partners. In an episode in Season 3, Nancy buys a grow house in Agrestic, and her black friend and partner Conrad moves in. When Conrad's sister and mother go on a walk in the neighborhood, they meet a jogger, who waves and smiles, then runs to the other side of the street to continue jogging. This jogger shows the tension between races that can still make some people uncomfortable. Suburbia has high taxes and is for high income families. As a result, wealthy white families are usually the ones who move to the suburbs. So when this jogger sees Conrad's black mother and sister, she becomes uncomfortable because they just seem out of place.

The Two Sides of a City

A view of Houston cityscape

In Houston, Texas the roads are wider and the buildings are more impressive. People don't come to Houston for its beauty or its climate; on the contrary, they come for the business of the city. Houston isn't the prettiest city but she gets work done. The city is always active because there is so much to do in such a big place (taking up more than 500 square miles making it slightly larger than the size of New Jersey). Houston is where the big boys come to play, and when I say big boys I am referring to the fact that Houston is home to the second largest number of fortune 500 companies (second only to New York City). Houston is an international power house for energy, being that it is the largest city in the state that first struck oil. Also, Houston has unrivaled medical facilities which many people flock to in search of the newest and best treatments for illnesses. This innovative city is not for everyone though. Some might say that Houston is a gross place and its design is not aesthetically pleasing to them. Houston is a moving active city that could be seen as over populated and its traffic seeming to go on forever. The climate is hot and humid. There is so much pollution from the surrounding industry but this, to me at least, makes the sunsets all the more beautiful with colors that didn't paint the sky until after the industrial revolution. Just as every coin has two side so does every city have two views.

"the surrounding industry" of Houston and a sunset over Houston