Although West Side Story is loosely based on Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, this particular musical is still relevant, imho, because, although it's fiction, it's closer to reality in many respects; people from "opposite sides of the track" falling in love amid conflict on both sides, dating and even marrying, racial, ethnic and religious tensions, urban gang warfare, all of which still frequently gets played out in real life.
The play and movie does indeed illustrate how the divisions and animosities among young people are still in our society today. And the attractions of lovers across dividing lines--when I was in high school, we had each year what we called slave auctions, in which we guys could bid for girls we liked and the girls on a separate day would bid for us. Slave requirements were that you had to meet your "owner" in the morning before classes and he or she would tell you what was expected of you through the day. The usual was something silly to wear, something silly to tote around, and you usually were obligated to meet the owner at the end of each class and carry his or her books to the next class. The slave status lasted only during school hours but guys usually were expected to take their "slave" out for burgers and a movie that evening. Usually, the guys and gals buying each other were already dating anyway.
Well, my senior year the girl I was hooked up with had moved to a neighboring town, so I had no "slave day" plans and was surprised when this really good-looking Hispanic girl paid out some good bucks for me. Night before we guys were to be slaves, she called me to tell me she was my "owner" (which I had already heard through the grapevine), and what really floored me--she asked if I were OK with that because of our ethnic differences. Except for a buddy of mine dating one of the prettiest Hispanics in our school (but seldom in public) there was no dating across cultural lines back then. But Yolanda and I had been friends for years, so I told her I was very honored at the opportunity be her slave. Well, I ended up the next day wearing some goofy hat to school and toting around a babydoll and its bottle, but I enjoyed seeing her at the end of each class and carrying her books and walking her to the next class. We did a lot of joking around in the halls and had a good time.
Thing is, back then I was very serious about my relationship with the girl I was dating, often driving over to see her on the weekends. Yet I was really attracted to Yolanda, too. But for various reasons, I felt like I "owed" to my girlfriend to be true to her, a situation she later gave me many reasons to regret after we were married. So I told Yolanda when she called me that I couldn't take her out the night after slave day because I was dating this other person. I've always regretted that decision--missed a swell opportunity to get to know this beautiful, sweet young lady, and ended up instead with my first ex-wife.
On the other hand, when I was about 13-14, my brother, cousin and I one night went to a sock hop at a youth hall across the street from his house in South San Antonio, a pretty salty side of town. It was a mixed race and ethnic neighborhood, with Hispanics accounting for more of the mix. To enter the recreation hall, we had to squeeze through two lines of Hispanic guys who would punch on us, pinch us, slap us. Some of these guys were my age but a lot of them were older, including some in their 20s, so it was not the place to start asserting one's rights. Inside the hall everyone was divided into the bigger Hispanic side and the smaller Anglo Saxon side. Some of those Anglo guys I didn't like any better than the Hispanics who had been punching on me. Anyway, there was a lot of tension in the hall. At one point someone threw a light switch and a bunch of Hispanics punched out some Anglo who apparently danced too close to their side of the room. Some of the older, tougher guys on both sides were starting to get vocal, so we figured it was time to call it a night. Had to squeez through the same lines on the way out, only a bunch of the guys followed us out whistling and yelling. We got halfway across the street and made a run for the house. Thank goodness I was a lot faster back then than I am now. But it wasn't the only time I ever got threatened or chased down in South San. So the mixed dance in WSS always seemed to me like a walk in the park compared to that night at the South San Rec Hall.
People can and do even fall in love at first sight in real life, although in real life, even that takes time to grow and develop into something where mutual trust and love enable the love to mushroom into something really substantial, if one gets the drift.
When she turned around, I saw she was cute, so when she started to the back of the room past all the chair-desks that were already taken, I pushed toward her an empty one next to me, and said, "here, take this one." And she did. That's when my troubles really began!
Years later, having been kicked in the teeth by young love, I seemed to have a knack for spotting women in honky-tonks who were receptive to romance with no strings. It was like one lady told me one night, "I don't know if I'm in love or just in lust, but I really don't care!"
Like the country song says, "Some girls don't like boys like me / But some girls do!"