Presented below is the fourth day of the Loma Prieta “Earthquake Collage” written by Robert Sward, a poet and novelist, from his work with students and faculty and staff at Cabrillo College. (Move on to Day 6 (there’s no day 5), or back to Day 3.)
Friday, October 20, Day 4
G., seeing that I’m depressed, asks, “What can we do to cheer you up?” “Let’s invite some friends over,” I say. “How about a professional comedian?” I don’t expect G. to do anything but laugh. Instead, she reaches for the phone and calls the only comedian we know. Swami Beyondananda (Steve Baerman) and his wife Trudy Lite are in town and accept.
As we sit down to eat I ask Swamiji to pronounce a blessing. “The beat goes on,” he begins. “Yes, we’re all Shakers, my friends… Let our only shaking now be from laughter.”
“What a relief it is to feel free to talk about, or not talk about, it,” says Trudy Lite, “to be with others who experienced it and not have to reassure them… as we have to reassure our friends and relatives that, ‘Yes, we’re okay,’ when we’re not so sure we are.”
G. and I would like Trudy and the Swami to stay in our “crumbling, toothpick city,” but the quake has spooked them… They’re probably going to move on, especially if they can’t trust… if the earth goes on defaulting. BOOM BOOM. A couple more aftershocks.
“Steve, if ananda means bliss or joy, what does Beyondananda mean?” I ask him. “First you go to bliss. It’s 500 yards beyond it,” he says.
Steve and Trudy are planning an earthquake benefit performance. Among the dance numbers to be performed: “I Feel the Earth Move Under My Feet”, “Shake Rattle and Roll,” “There’s a Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On,” “Shake it Up Baby,” and “Twist and Shout…”
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“Cashing in on East Bay residents who are homebound because of the earthquake, hordes of San Francisco prostitutes have flocked to Oakland where business is booming.
“’The hookers in San Francisco can’t get enough work, so a lot of them have taken BART to Oakland,’ said Maggie, a 22-year-old prostitute who works regularly on San Pablo Avenue in the heart of Oakland’s red light district. ‘There’s bumper-to-bumper traffic over here and they want some of the action. We wish they would go home.’”
”…Sex goes on, even in a crisis. And Oakland is where it’s happening right now.’”
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Post-Quake bumper stickers: “I Love Santa Cruz Despite Its Faults” “Shift Happens” “Restore Santa Cruz” “It’s All Our Fault”
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At 5:04 PM on October 17 a family in Watsonville is watching a video of the Mexico City quake. Suddenly their house begins to shake and the shelves open and bottles and glasses fall onto the floor. The daughter cries, “Dad, it’s an earthquake.” “No, no, it’s just a movie,” says her father.
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Remembering the Loma Prieta Earthquake 