November
2008
|
Ed
Mirsky
 |
Life
at the
Mud Hut
Condo Complex
on Grand
Avenue. Wikipedia. |
Summer
is over
and Carrie,
Samantha, Charlotte,
and Miranda left
their
summer digs
in Del
Mar. The
girls had
settled down
into monogamous
relationships--married
with children.
But, not
unexpectedly
given their
history of
rather open
relationships,
rumors abound
about their
escapades
over
the summer,
and life
in general
at the
Mud Hut
Condo Complex
on Grand
Avenue.
The
most bizarre
event of
the summer
happened to
Charlotte. Someone
left a
baby in
her room
. There
was no
note; no
necessary supplies
for the
child. Carrie's
husband, Mr.
Big, the
summer manager
of the
condos said
that this
kind of
thing was
not uncommon,
and similar
incidents had
occurred numerous
times over
the years.
He added
that, A
couple reported
that their
babies had
disappeared from
their rooms.
Another couple
said they
found their
babies unattended
in the
dirt outside
their room.
They had
no idea
who could
have done
such a
thing. A
woman said
that she
and her
partner were
raising a
child left
in their
apartment; they
suspect it
was left
there by
someone else
in the
complex. One
man said
his wife
gave birth
to a
child and
that he
was not
the father.
His wife
claims that
their neighbor's
husband had
forced himself
on her.
Another couple
said a
neighbor's wife
brought them
their baby,
saying she
and her
partner were
unable to
adequately provide
for it,
and since
they already
had three
kids she “knew
they would
take care
of her
baby.” But
the most
bizarre report
was from
a man
who said
that a
woman entered
his apartment
while his
wife was
out and
gave birth
to a
child, which
she abandoned.
The man
added that
he had
an affair
with the
woman and
she may
have been
leaving me
the child.
None of
this has
been reported
by the
local newspaper.
Mr. Big
summed things
up by
suggesting
that it
seems to
him that
the residents
have developed
a system
for raising
young in
which they
spread the parental
work load
among several
neighboring
parenting
teams, but
he added,
they don't
maintain reproductive
monogamy.
After
hearing the
account of
goings on
at the
complex, Charlotte
was ready
to move.
After all,
the previous
week she
was trapped
inside her
apartment when
debris from
an upstairs
neighbor's
construction
project blocked
her door.
 |
Cliff
Swallow. Wikipedia |
Shortly
after Charlotte's
unpleasant incident
at the
Mud Hut,
the girls
visited the
Mud Hole
Bar at
the edge
of the
lagoon. They
had heard
from other
women in
the condo
complex that
a lot
of men
hung out
at the
bar, so
naturally Miranda
suggested that
they check
it out.
One of
the women
warned them
that some
of the
men at
the bar
were there
to take
advantage of
married women,
though with
a smile,
she admitted
that some
of the
women did
not resist
the advances
of the
men. As
you may
have guessed,
Miranda was
approached by
a rather
insipid young
man, though
Carrie said
that Miranda
elicited the
dalliance. Samantha
and Charlotte
said they
too were “hit
on,” but
didn't say
how far
they went.
When the
girls returned
to Carrie's
apartment,
Mr.
Big said
that he
and the
other husbands
had thought
of going
to the
other bar
in town,
but Steve
Brady found
out it
was frequented
mostly by
men so
they didn't
go. After
all was
said, the
husbands acknowledged
they had
heard what
happened at
the bar,
and showed
their unconditional
affection and
support with
conjugal love.
The
girls
and
their
spouses
recently
flew
back
to
their
homes
in
Paraguay,
Uruguay,
and
Argentina.
It
was
quite
a
summer,
and
as
Roughgarden,
2004,
summarizes
it
in
Evolution's
Rainbow, “Cliff
swallow
life
includes
many
features
of
our
own
city
life--a
hot
real
estate
market,
trespassing,
robbery,
hanky-panky
with
the
neighbors,
....” Stay
tuned for
more
next
spring.
Ed
Mirsky adapted
this piece
from:
Roughgarden,
Joan. 2004.
Evolution's
Rainbow:
Diversity,
Gender,
and
Sexuality
in Nature
and People. University
of
California Press. |
