Quick Departure for a Quote

Because this blog is, in reality, for a class I'm taking, I'm going to need to take a quick departure from Fell's Point history to write up an assignment.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery is a story that's grown up with me and a large portion of the Western Hemisphere tends to agree that it's an important work.

The book confused me when I first read it but I chalk that up to the speech my uncle delivered when he handed it to me. He opened to the first page and started in about using your imagination, seeing the world in a new light, and pretty much all the other themes that Saint-Exupery explores in the guise of a simple tale about a boy who appears suddenly in the desert.

The problem with this is that my uncle laid all these themes out to me before I even got the chance to read it as the simple story it is. Plus, it's probably not really necessary to tell a ten-year-old to use his imagination. It all sounded like a "lesson" of some kind, so I put it aside.

Despite such an irritating introduction, I later read it, liked it, and carried it around sometimes like a good luck charm. I came back for a re-visitation a few more times up to my twenties before the book became a sort of annual reading for the start of autumn. I've always discovered new favorite parts and passages and sometimes think about getting tattooed or drawing something related. Mostly I just sort of think about it a lot.

There are two separate passages that stay with me now, and have for a few years. They share a theme.

The first is said by a fox who, despite being a wild animal, wants to be tamed by the little prince so they can be friends. He explains:

"To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world....”

Artist: Antoine de Saint-Exupery - http://www.antoinedesaintexupery.com/

The second quote is said by the little prince after seeing a garden full of roses. He has a rose of his own that he cares for (and is sometimes manipulated by). Until now, he believed her beauty was unique and he's upset to see dozens of similar roses. Later, he turns on them and says:

“You're beautiful, but you're empty... One couldn't die for you. Of course, an ordinary passerby would think my rose looked just like you. But my rose, all on her own, is more important than all of you together, since she's the one I've watered. Since she's the one I put under glass, since she's the one I sheltered behind the screen. Since she's the one for whom I killed the caterpillars (except the two or three butterflies). Since she's the one I listened to when she complained, or when she boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing at all. Since she's my rose.”

Artist: Antoine de Saint-Exupery - http://www.antoinedesaintexupery.com/

These are powerful statements even within the context of being said by a speaking fox or being heard by roses that are listening. Taken out of that context and applied to something personal, like my dog, and it's easier to understand why I'd be angry when I hear about people dropping their dog (or cat) off at the shelter because they "have a baby now". Maybe she's no longer as special to you, worth the effort it takes to care for her but some serious thought should be put into how special you still are to her.

  Artist: Riya. I can't find any other information on this...

Applied to a relationship, these lines become a very conscious way of thinking about how much I value someone and, in return, thinking of how much I'm valued.

There's one more line that comes back to these passages and sums up the real message. The little prince says he has to return to his rose and the fox, while upset, seems to understand. He says:

"It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important. Men have forgotten this truth but you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose . . ."

Where's the Point?

I've got a nifty little bit of trivia but, like everything else I tell you, there's a backstory first.

So, people really think they're clever sometimes. Mostly, though, what they're trying to pass off as "clever" during a conversation is really just typical responses that you've heard a bunch of times while on a similar topic. Need an example? Take this exchange between two people at work:

Steve: I won tickets to Jersey Boys, so we're doing that on Saturday.

Gene: Where's it playing?

Steve: In Baltimore. At the Hippodrome.

Gene: (chuckling) Don't get shot.

See? Totally clever. 

Now, I hear that sort of brilliance almost every day but there's another sort of "clever" where someone says something less cliche but nevertheless still makes you roll your eyes. See, you can tell when they're doing it because as soon as they see that flash of puzzlement on your face, they smile and lift their chin up as if to say, "A-ha. Now, see, I made you think."

These same sort of people tend to go to Mark Twain conventions and half-ass their cosplay.

Last week, I was sitting in a bar, minding my own business, when some guy came in and started talking to whoever would listen and, eventually, began quizzing me about what I was looking at on my phone all this time. Believe it or not, this wasn't my first go-round with this question: some people just hate when other people are on their phone, never taking in account that maybe I'm reading something for school or, like right now, I'm writing a blog.

OMG, Ben, I'm looking at an app that monitors my arc-reactor. Give it a rest.

I just said, "Reading," giving him the chance to stop talking to me, which he wisely accepted; although, he was so obnoxious, commenting to no one in particular about everything from beer labels to whatever was on TV, that I pretty much had to sit and listen to him anyway.

Then he said to the bartender out of the blue, "What's the point?"

"The point of what?" she asked.

"What is the point?" he asked again, purposefully clearing nothing up. Pause. Then:

"If this is Fell's Point, what, or should I say, where, is the point?" His expression told of decades of well-practiced self-satisfaction. The bartender and I wore rehearsed expressions also but ours were of complete indifference.

"Well yeah," said the bartender, "You should have said that."

Putting into action Stage 2 of Operation: Being Clever, the guy pursues the question, "So, where is it?" The bartender shrugged and said something like, "It's probably just, you know, the whole area. I don't know." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the guy's head starting to tilt back as if he'd "made us think".

Well, it so happens that I knew not only what the Point was but also where. So, I'm going to share it with you like I shared it with him except without the irritated tone of voice.

Here's a map of Fell's Point. It's newer but based on one from the late 1800s. See that little peninsula? That's Fell's Point.

And here's a blow up of the original map, clearly labeling it as such.

The point doesn't really exist anymore: the basin to the north was filled in when they built the Allied Chemical plant. Here's a recent map.

Thanks for listening to me Rage. Made me feel better, anyway.

So, how's that working out for you? Being clever.