The Mean Streets of Maui

A few weeks ago I went out with some co-workers for Pau Hana (basically, Friday happy hour). And there's this guy who's been here a year or so who really reminds me of an uncle I don't really interact with any more. In some ways, it's kinda creepy. But anyway he's telling me how Maui will "spit some people out." Like it's the Mean Streets of Maui. Look, it's pretty simple. This is a great place for a vacation (I assume), but the only way you can live here and not go nuts is if you don't really care about what's happening around you. For the most part there is no sense of community here. Sure, there is within ethnic & racial groups, but even that is waning (like everywhere in the world). So if you just care about your personal satisfaction: when you can go surfing, etc, this is a wonderful place.

When you talk to all the non-locals they bitch about everyone. And they have no sense of irony either. And when you talk to the locals, they bitch about the non-locals and tourists (with good reason).

I totally understand why people leave Hawaii, which they do at an incredible rate. This place is ridiculous....again, to live in. This place doesn't "spit people out". People with some freakin common sense get the hell out. Having said that, I'm here...I'm staying. I have a job where - even though it's not going the way I want to yet - they want me here. They like how I do things and they want me here. You're going to have to shang-hi my ass to get me out of here because I don't know of another school that would put up with me.

So...if this place is so ridiculous, I'm just going to have to try to change it. (Have an ego much?)

I started looking into the Green Party here. Uhhhhh, there isn't one. Especially on Maui. If I was called "Greenman" before I'm really gonna earn it this time. I'm literally going to be starting this from scratch. But it'll keep me on the streets. So I'll fill you in on that...but first I'm being extorted for ten bucks for the "pathetic" list of Greens on the island. Don't ask.

I'm going to be posting some pictures of our beach clean-up activity this weekend. So check those out. But to further illustrate how weird this place is, I want to tell you about my trip to the library today.

When I become King of Maui, you would think I'd have on the top of my agenda things like water usage, landfills, affordable housing. Nope. The first thing I'm going to do is clean house at the f-ing library. It has the most arbitrary hours...I think it's run by ex-barbers because it's closed on Sundays & Mondays. The web page says one thing and the sign on the door says another. And I'm told they don't even go by that, they just close up when they want. And the Kihei library is freakin creepy. There's a lot of stuff there, but there's also empty shelves - enough to make it look like there was some kind of "incident" and they lost a lot of books.

I went there today to check it out because we want to take our students there to use as a resource. Being in a Research and Technology Park, we don't have room for our own library. So I looked around and noticed something really weird. They have the biggest Jew section of any library I've ever seen. I mean, it was huge for any library outside of Israel, but in Kihei, Hawaii...it was just bizarre. It didn't make sense...and there were a ton of empty shelves around it as if they were expecting more! [I guess here is where I have to make a disclaimer for those back home who didn't know this...my father's side is Jewish so I don't have a problem throwing around the "J" word...it's the closest to an ethnicity a pasty white boy like me has. I mean, I can go to all the Puerto Rican Festivals in the world, but let's be honest...5 seconds of me trying to dance and you'd know I ain't no Puerto Rican. And it doesn't matter how many brothers on Genesee Street call me Brother Dave. But I digress.]

Then, I talked to one of the people who worked there about bringing my kids to the library next week. You would have thought I had just asked her where the Anal Sex section of the library is. I realize that's pretty graphic (sorry, Mom), but if you had seen her reaction you'd agree with my description.

To summarize...this place is just odd.