Poverty, Creativity Spring 1996

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THURSDAY. 8:00. NBC. BE THERE:
A group of friends, lounging on a sofa, chit-chatting about this and that, making each other laugh, making each other cry. Offering one another the comforts of generational identity, yet exhibiting troubling ideological traits, Falling in and out of love, downing a few beers, "hooking up" and breaking up, parlying the night away—though used to being the only Christian in my circle of friends, I still find myself at times perplexed.

Something about "Friends," and about the college culture I recently left behind, is powerfully attractive. I have known many Central Perks: Tart to Tart in San Francisco; the Black Sheep in Amherst, Mass.; the Living Room in Jackson, Miss. Cozy coffee houses, chock-full of atmosphere (i.e., smoke, alternative music, and local art) and the "community" that many of us lacked growing up.

How many times, between divorce and upward mobility, did my parents move from one neighborhood to another? How many "block friends" did my brother and I lose touch with over the years? And how many times recently have I packed my worldly belongings in a few suitcases and cardboard boxes to trade lodgings in one region for "home" in an entirely different part of the country?

I have to love a community so close-knit that when one member ends a relationship, the other five go straight for the Ben & Jerry's! I can't help but wince sympathetically when a talented twentysomething whose last-ditch job has fallen through is reduced to asking her parents for a loan. And I confess—who won't?—that I indulged in a long, drawn-out "aww!" as I watched a pet monkey brave the streets of New York City to be reunited with his best friend!

But there is one small problem: It's risky to negotiate with the ...

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