There was a world where people were living in rooms. That is all they could afford, just a room somewhere. No houses, no apartments, no flats. Rooms in houses, with one bed and a cupboard. If they were lucky they were old houses and they had a sink in the room too. That was luxury. Those were more expensive of course.
The people wore yellowish shirts and brown suits, the men, and dark, thick dresses, the women. Always their clothes matched their foot wear. They were clean, washed in common bathrooms, and their clothes in common washing machines.
They worked normal, tedious jobs which most of them did not like, but enjoyed. It was a privilege to have a job, to have a paycheck, to have a title. People were called by their title, if they had a job of course, if they did not, out of consideration, they avoided to attach any title at all.
For example, if someone addressed a seamstress they would say:
‘So kind of you Seamstress O’Brien!’
But, if they spoke to a person that did not have a known job, they would say:
‘So kind of you fellow human being!’
Unusual indeed, but the people put so much value in having a productive role that they were openly disapproving of those that, in their view, did not contribute.
They liked artists, they did, but it needed to be art they understood and in line with their sensibilities. For example they would have deeply disliked Picasso and all his phases, too cubic.
The people’s idea of fun was to sit around and talk about their insipid jobs, eating brown food and drinking brown ale.
What characterized the people the most was that they were content, even the fellows (the short for fellow human being), were content. These lived on the fringes of society, but they were safe and had the needful for survival. Whenever a fellow moved over to the other side and found a job, they were genuinely happy for them. A fellow has to do what a fellow has to do!
The people lived in a quiet world, reading event less articles in yellowish news papers. They kept their distance and their decorum, they courted for two years before becoming married, had at least one child, and at the most two (when possible), and they educated their children to become as boring and uninteresting as themselves.
The people cared for each other deeply, they kept promises and were kind. They always assumed positive intent and this shaped their view of the world. They were patient and welcoming. They supported each other and considered it a small personal win if they managed to get a fellow, woman or man, into productive work.
The people were convinced that everyone must contribute and support each other.
As the human being is such an unexpected and uncontrollable force, of course there were people that were born different from their parents. These children would rarely abide by the rules of the sedate world of the quiet people, and would often leave in search for the bright lights of the cities they knew existed.
It happened often that, these children, that had left disgusted by the insignificant and mediocre lives of their parents, would return needing the quiet life to calm their nerves and find a bit of balance, after the demanding world of the big cities, where everything was possible, good or bad.
Their parents would find them a room, help them find employment and would secretly enjoy their return. They loved their children and having them close was a joy.
Sometimes, it happened that these children, now all grown up, would have difficulties adapting to the old life. Sometimes, their parents, out of love, would share with them, secret worlds and places hidden in little boxes or libraries. A beautifully illustrated book, a painting hiding behind a faded family photo, a cake recipe they would cook behind closed doors at very special occasions.
The children were dumbfounded! How had they not known?
‘When you are very young, when you do not know how precious the order of the world is, we could not share with you our secret, you might have blurted it out in the passion of youth!’, they would explain.
Some understood, some did not, but they all rejoiced to find out their parents were not as beige as they thought. Often, having that little secret was enough to support them while finding they way.
The world of the quiet people goes on, slowly spinning around with all the other worlds, on this big, beautiful planet of ours.