Differences in the East Bay

I went to the dentist today. My dentist's office is on the other side of the hills that ring the East Bay, separating Berkley, El Cerrito and Richmond from the cultural wasteland of Orinda and Lafayette. As he leaned over me, he asked me, "how's everything?" I answered, "OK - you?" He said he was OK. Then I realized that, although we live, at most, ten miles apart from each other, in one of the most lively and exciting places in the world, and still we didn't have anything to talk about. His world, on the other side of that hill, could be on the other side of the planet as far as I'm concerned. It's jarring how dissimilar we can be although we live just a few miles apart from each other. I made a comment about how his Representative is trying to avoid being districted into a less competitive district and he responded with a riff about gerrymandering in California. I didn't engage.

I guess America, California, and the Bay Area are all about stark differences. Bankers weaving around beggars in the financial district. Heroine addicts just below the offices of the House Minority Leader. Immigrant day-laborers shoulder to shoulder with Fourth Street's day-time shoppers. North Berkeley and West Berkeley. Berkeley and Lafayette.