Day 8 𖦹 GRANDMOTHER

Paige is back serving tea today! Sounds include discussions on Miles' grandmother and why consistency matters. Until tomorrow!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Today is day eight.

SPEAKER_01 0:04

I mean free tea but famous denies 30 days of free tea in Mary Hernandez Park.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

It's a chill morning. Do you have any one week post reflections?

SPEAKER_02 0:34

I I think more than anything, it's we can totally do this.

SPEAKER_03 0:45

I participate in like food distribution a lot, but there's such a different energy that the tea stand has and such a softness that people approach the tea stand with that just feels so unique. Or barley tea. The barley does have gluten in it. Even though it's just providing free tea, it feels reciprocal. I guess someone stopping to get tea feels like they're doing me a service of having a use for being here.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

It's good.

SPEAKER_02 1:29

Well, I'm reading a book right now. One of the main characters in the book is Jiko, who is 104 years old and is Buddhist. One of the other main characters is like a 16-year-old Japanese girl. The way that she describes it is her grandma is in the elevator, but is holding the door open for everyone for as long as she needs to. And she's like, hey, you know what? I've actually never asked my grandma where the elevator's going. Let me text her right now. And so she texts her. And Jico responds, up, down, same thing. It doesn't matter. It's the same. It's it's not this like ascension or descension uh to to a higher state of being or whatever. It's just a way of experiencing all of it.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

Tell me about your grandmother.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

I interviewed her maybe ten years ago, and two like questions and answers really stuck with me. One is I asked her what the happiest part of her life was, and she said, right now. Um and the other thing that she said is I asked her uh like what makes her feel most alive, and she said helping people. Hey, would you like some perpetual brew? Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Um do you think about intergenerational relationships?

SPEAKER_02 3:57

You know, I was just thinking about that. I feel like it's like the most important thing. It's like that's the only way for knowledge to really be transferred is human to human. It's like all of that life experience, any anything that can kind of push you in a certain direction to see the world differently, I think is good, and especially when it's coming from people in your neighborhood.

SPEAKER_03 4:22

I think I'm gonna do the green tea. This one's really good. Oh, you know the dude that I was telling you about a while ago? There's a dude a few blocks away who's probably in his like early 50s, and I talk to him like three to four times a week. Um, wouldn't say he's like my friend, but I would say he's very much community to me. Maybe to other people like people outside New York, like what is like a 20-something-year-old queer person doing chatting with like a 50-something year old man? Like, what do you have in common? And it's like nothing and everything. He gave me a kiss on the cheek earlier and was like, I love you, it's so good to see you. And just so sweet. I feel like that's all it's honestly one of the most beautiful relationships in my life. Uh, because it feels so uncomplicated. When his mom passed, he like cried on my shoulder. He's shown me some really dope Venezuelan songs. Like, he feels like a Bushwick staple to me. Like it wouldn't feel right to be here without him. We need those those interactions, that community, the the consistency of people always showing up.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

Like when he first popped up, I was hesitant because you never know who just moved here. But I observed this situation for a long time and it just kept growing into something positive more and more. It's like I recognize this person at this point. This feels like this is part of what Bushwick's about. Showing up and doing some odd fucking shit that everyone likes, honestly.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

The consistency and the familiarity is so essential. Like doing this once is cute and fun, but but doing it on a monthly basis or on a daily basis for perpetual brew, that's a real that's love. What time is it? It's six. Another day in the books. Another day in the books. We did it.

SPEAKER_03 6:56

How are you feeling? Feeling good. My feet are frozen, but I'm feeling good. Okay, tomorrow.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

It's you serving the tea?

SPEAKER_02 7:07

I'm back.