The Theory on the Downfall of Neighborhoods....

Today it is hard to find a person that knows everyone that lives within a tenth of a mile in all directions. In cities, this would mean with a city block. But I grew up in a time when we knew EVERYBODY. We knew what they did for a living, where they went to church, who had visited them within the last month, and what the names of their pets were. We knew what clubs they belonged to and their children's grades in school. We knew everything we needed to know and most of the things we probably shouldn't have known.

What happened? A friend of mine in California told me while I was visiting him that he had yet to meet one of his next door neighbors but he had been busy and he had only lived in his current residence for about two years. After I stopped laughing at the idea of not even knowing who was around him, I began thinking if I was any better. Did I know my neighbors? And, if not, why?

And after diligent research and investigation I was able to develop the infallible (but not widely accepted) theory for the downfall of neighborhoods and social interaction within communities. The fault should be placed squarely on the shoulders of Air Conditioning.

I must begin by pleading guilty to hypocrisy in that I'm as addicted to being cool and comfortable as anyone. But I clearly remember walking a bit over a mile to the small business district of my hometown as a child no more than six or seven years old ALONE - without a worry on either my part or the part of my parents. Any parent allowing a child to do this today would be arrested for neglect and rightfully so. But why did it work then? Every house had a porch in front that faced the street. The swings that hung from chains and the rocking chairs were there to provide comfort, but even if the family was not on the porch the windows were wide open and everything happening outside could be seen or heard. I was looked over by the occupants of every house I passed. A couple of phone calls to friends would either result in, "he passed by here five minutes ago" or "I haven't seen him yet, wait, here he comes now".

And then came A/C.

Doors were shut. Windows were closed.
Families retreated behind blinds that minimized the amount of sunlight that penetrated into the cooled spaces. Noises were shut out. From the standpoint of neighbors, we may as well have moved into a steel cocoon.

Within a very few years, we went from knowing everything to knowing NOTHING! Not even their names. And with this change came another. Door locks! Children today cannot imagine leaving their house without locking everything up tight. I can truthfully say that most of the years when I was growing up, we didn't even know where the key to the door was! I clearly recall leaving for several days and returning home to find a note on the table in the kitchen expressing regret that visitors had missed finding us at home.
They had helped themselves to a pot of coffee, cleaned up after themselves, and even put away the only luxury I ever remember my mother having...her silverware. No thought was ever given to the fact that they had entered the house unescorted...or that they had used and consumed coffee and whatever was available in the refrigerator...or that they had even used the "good silver". My parents only regretted that they had missed seeing their friends.

As I flew home from my visit to California, I vowed to do something about my own shortcoming in the neighbor department. After discussing it with wife Martha, we decided we would host a 'block party' sort of gathering and invite as many neighbors as we could adequately handle logistically. Obviously, many of them would not or could not come, but we would give a chance for others to meet and greet. The number invited turned out to be 56. We set up tables on the front lawn in October and asked each guest family to bring a dish if they chose, but to come under any circumstance. We furnished the fried fish and the drinks. And of the 56, 53 came. So we waited for a couple of years and did it again, this time inviting almost 120 people. More than 100 came. And we had great times! I suppose neighbors still want to be neighborly.

Wouldn't it be great if I could say that this changed things and everyone became close friends that met and shared and greeted and visited just as we did during my childhood? It would be. But it didn't happen. Damn Air Conditioning!

At least that's the way I remember it.