[Peace-discuss] idea garage sale?

[Susan Parenti]

To the many people who have asked 'how did the idea garage sale  
go?'---from my point of view, the idea garage sale went wonderfully,  
despite the horrid weather.

What was wonderful was that it 'took off' around 11am--enough people  
of different backgrounds were there to talk to one another, with an  
idea forming the point of departure, and with fairly lengthy and  
animated conversations ensuing. People didn't just show up for ten  
minutes then leave--rather, they seemed to stay for quite awhile.

But, OK, this might be a description of a party or a class---so, what  
was the 'garage idea sale' component?

My answer will sound odd---I felt, metaphorically, that I was  
receiving health care in the emergency room, rather than in a  
doctor's office--and that was good. By that I mean, with someone's  
idea forming the basis of a conversation, there were all sorts of  
treatments done to it by the variety of the people, with lots of  
references to other things and events brought in. 'Hear-say' was a  
significant contributor--many people would say, for example, "I heard  
that the Orpeum is doing...", or "I heard the Park District is  
basically closing down Crystal lake Park..." etc---and this was  
important to hear.  I learned lots (and I'm a conceited sort of  
person who likes claiming she knows everything already).

Someone else may have thought the whole event stunk. OK.

But from my experience, an idea garage sale seemed to address our  
barely articulated need to talk with one another about ideas that  
matter.