Basella enters the kitchen just as the sun becomes visible over the rooftops. The first rays are already touching the bench on the balcony, which is directly adjacent to the kitchen. Time for breakfast. The sun promises a warm day. Still in his pajamas, Mensch sits down next to Kat on the kitchen couch and pulls his legs up.
"Naa?" Basella begins the conversation.
"Well, you?"
"Was the night good?"
"Yes, but I had such a strange dream today."
"Yes, me too! What did you dream about?"
"We were together at a lake and wanted to go swimming, but as soon as we took our first steps in, the water turned into gravy, dumplings rose to the surface, and the boat transformed into a pot roast."
"Okay?" Basella laughs. "Maybe you have to make a vegan exception."
"Yeah, I don't know either. How was your night?"
"It was okay, Sabine really snored in my ears all evening, but I only woke up from it once. I had such a lovely dream today. We were..."
Suddenly, Kim steps through the door into the kitchen.
"Why are you looking like two squirrels when there's lightning?" Kim asks.
"Do you need anything right now?"
"No, I'm just going to have a smoke," says Kim, pushing her way past the dining table onto the balcony.
"So in my dream I was first in a club, up by the Möller Bridge. Nothing big, just a bit of dancing. It was quite lively, lots of cute people. Then this guy asked me for a hairdryer, we got talking, and were just about to go home together when..."
Kim opens the balcony door.
"Hey Basella, what are you up to today?"
"I'm meeting Lisa to paint, why?"
"The spinach really needs to be harvested urgently, you know that?"
"Yes, today isn't a good day for me, or it's really difficult."
"What are you painting?"
"That's still a bit unclear, to be honest."
"And the spinach is supposed to rot again, or what? I'm not busting my ass in the garden just so all the food ends up as compost. As a community, we need to stick together and not just keep writing texts here and painting pictures there; that won't feed us. You damn artists are driving me crazy! You can't expect us to feed you all the time."
Stomping her feet and with a lit cigarette, Kim walks through the kitchen into the hallway and disappears into the house.
"What was that, Basella?"
"Man is right. We really need to take better care of the garden."
"No, Basella, that's not right. Not like that. I found that really unfair to you and your work. And one can be dissatisfied and have a desire for change, but you are not a release valve for people's emotions."
"Yes, I think sometimes people's emotions just get the better of them. In terms of content, they're right."
"Yeah, sure. But look, the aggression intimidates you and then makes you cancel your date and end up working for Kim after all. This isn't the first time, and that's what it's all about."
"Look, Kat, that's tone policing. People have good reasons to be angry."
"I think Kim used this aggression to strengthen her own authority and enforce obedience. I think she abused her power. Dismissing criticism of behavior as tone policing only makes sense when it's used for people speaking from a marginalized position. That exists in our shared apartment too, but Kim, as the longest-serving person in the project, is also in a position of structural power and is certainly not marginalized."
"Yes, I see what you mean. But sometimes it feels different."
"I think it would also be okay to go to Lisa's and have a good time."
"I don't know, I feel guilty."
"And then there's this hostility towards artists. Sorry, but what kind of world do we live in? Blah blah - art has no real value. It makes me want to vomit. Kim should be the one with a guilty conscience, not you."
"Yes, you think so?"
"Yes."
"Hmmh."
Basella takes some olives from the table and begins to eat them thoughtfully, one after the other.
"Kat, what are you doing today?"
"I have a driving lesson today. I'm finally getting my truck license:"
"Yes, that's right. What's the driving instructor like?"
"Oh, what can I say? He can keep his hands to himself and doesn't talk much nonsense. More than I expected, to be honest. So, what else happened in your dream?"
"The whole situation really got to me. I really don't want to be sucked into Kim like that again. That was really awful."
"Yes, I can understand that."
"Well, my dream was really hot. Is it okay for you to talk about sex?"
https://archive.org/details/DerApfelUndDerStamm/Web_2026-03-13-Zine_Gemeinschaft_barrierearm/page/n1/mode/1up
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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