Comes now the story of Xia.
Xia was a woman of design and pragmatism. She turned her abilities into a profession as a drafter. For her, function and form were equally important and any piece of infrastructure must be the best of both.
Xia was once employed on a project by a group of architects and engineers to construct a bridge between an island and a coastal mainland over a sea. Throughout the process, Xia was able to work with the group and implement some of her ideas with the bridge’s design.
The purpose of a bridge is simple for Xia. It is a conveyance from one piece of land to another that must always stand. Xia wanted to incorporate the stalwart nature of a bridge while also making it a compliment to the landscape.
During the project, Xia struggled with the work though not because of the job itself. She had moved to the region where the bridge was to be built. Xia wanted her structure to stand out and yet be representative of the people and the land around it. The best way to make the best design was to live in the area and get to know the people on the island and the mainland.
Xia chose to live in an apartment building and during the day she drove around the city on the island and spoke to the residents. The only way to get to the island from mainland was through a ferry and Xia would travel on it for inspiration.
The struggle during the project came when she was in her apartment at night. Her neighbors, a young couple, would often argue into the early morning hours. Xia would try to draw up plans for the bridge only to be interrupted by yelling and screaming.
Whenever Xia saw them outside the apartment, the couple seemed happy and peaceful. They saved their rage for behind closed doors.
Much of the couple’s fights stemmed from the woman’s choice of music. She enjoyed playing it rather loud and the man hated both the volume and the content. Apparently, the music distracted him from his reading. The argument would start about the volume. Their fight would then become about the music itself. The husband said it was too experimental and had too much high-pitched wailing. Xia came down on the side of the husband.
Between the music and the screaming, it made it difficult for Xia to work in the apartment. She thought about confronting the couple but felt that it likely would not help. In fact, she thought, it would probably only make their problems worse because then the couple would probably start fighting about how the music was now bothering other people.
The sun visited with Xia one morning and told her not to get involved. Some gaps are not meant to be connected. Xia did not listen and thought about how to fix the problem.
In most arguments, there should be a compromise. But in this particular instance, Xia felt that only one person was right. Yes, the woman could give in some and only play the music loudly for certain times of the day or the husband could invest in earplugs but really, the woman was in the wrong, Xia thought. The music was an expression for her but the expression was a distraction for others.
Whatever the problem may be, the deadline was approaching for the bridge’s final design and Xia could not finish them in time because of the constant state of warfare with her neighbors. If she did not have a design turned in on time, Xia could lose her job.
Rather than join the fray of their fighting, Xia decided to try an alternate route. A holiday was approaching and it was customary for people to exchange gifts. Xia decided to get gifts for her neighbors. She presented them both with a pair of noise-cancelling headphones.
The couple appreciated the gift and accepted them graciously. That very night, there wasn’t any yelling coming from her neighbors. Xia was able to continue her designs in peace.
Weeks passed and the deadline approached. Xia was nearly finished with the bridge design and was preparing to show it to the project group. As she put the final touches on a pier cap, Xia heard peals of screaming coming from the young couple.
Unable to concentrate, she marched outside and knocked on their door. When they answered, Xia began yelling at them and asking what it was they were fighting about. Apparently the husband was upset that his wife did not listen to him when he tried to talk to her about anything because she was always listening to her music through her headphones, which drowned out his voice. The wife countered that the music was far more entertaining than his talking. The couple began arguing again in front of Xia.
Rather than join in the discussion and talk them down, Xia asked the husband if he had his headphones. Of course, he told her. He went into their bedroom and came out with them still new in the box. Xia grabbed the headphones and walked out leaving the couple to their squabbling.
The sun had been right. Back in her apartment, Xia put the headphones in her ears to cancel out the noise of her screaming neighbors and finished her work on the bridge.
Xia’s designs would eventually be built and the bridge now spans the sea between the island and the mainland.
Love it! Compelling, straightforward, yet multi-layered. A pleasure to read—leaves you pondering on its themes.
They need her in Baltimore....