THE CULTURAL TIGHTROPE

The WhatsApp mobile app. EFE.

There is a moment in every neighbourhood WhatsApp group when it ceases to be useful and becomes a form of theatre. Someone creates the group so neighbours can warn each other about suspicious cars, unfamiliar faces and gates left open (in my neighbourhood, at least). For a few glorious weeks, it operates like an amateur security network. Then real life intervenes.

Someone notices something suspicious. A van is parked in an unusual place. A hedge has been trimmed rather aggressively. Or perhaps there is illegal dumping on a building site. A photograph is posted: “So... does anyone know what’s going on here?” The curtain rises.

Within minutes, the responses arrive. One neighbour expresses concern. Another suggests calling the police. A third asks the only genuinely useful question: “Is the owner even in this group?” By now, the owner has read everything.

One of........

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