Queuing Up For Community

When several villages are united in a single complete community, large enough to nearly or quite self-sufficing, the state comes into existence, originating in the bare needs of life, and continuing in existence for the sake of a good life.

            Aristotle, Politics  

For those above the age of forty, there might be memories of a community feel to your neighborhood where children played with one another, parents chatted and shared the dispensing of discipline and a general protectiveness of the neighborhood.  Strangers in the neighborhood were welcomed but asked their business.  New neighbors were greeted and made to feel a part of the communal esprit de corps.  In a great many neighborhoods today, that feeling no longer exists.  People are sequestered in their air conditioned homes and only come out and communicate with neighbors when the lawn needs mowing or watered.  However, I have experienced another example of community – the queue. 

About ten years ago, I was attending a baseball game and parked in the lot of a closed K-Mart, one I’d used before and one where about fifty others were using as well.  We made the long but manageable trek to the ballpark, enjoyed the game and returned to the lot only to find nearly seventy cars had been towed.  As the various fans gathered, we began to fan out, looking for a sign and sure enough, behind a tree, was a sign warning of towing.  In a society increasingly known for looking out for oneself, we gathered together and made a plan.  One person called the towing company to find out the cost of getting our cars out ($150) and another sought out the nearest ATM machine.

Together, we walked about two miles to the towing company and approached the window together.  In the midst of this line, I discovered that we were together, bounded as one in the face of injustice.  Injustice might be a bit overwrought but we did develop a camaraderie that night as we helped one another with answers to questions.  People before us told us the procedure upon stepping up to the company’s representative, jokes were shared that mocked the officiousness of the company and a general affinity for one another who shared the same predicament was evident. 

Yet, these types of instances need not be all bad.  Eight years ago, I queued up to vote in the presidential election.  People were excited and represented those willing and desirous of doing their civic duty.  Early on in my wait, it was discovered that a young man near the front was voting for the first time.  The citizens clapped and congratulated him and upon his exit, he was congratulated once more, this time with high-five slaps and handshakes.  I’ve always felt this congeniality when voting before and since but that day, it brought home for me the nature of Americans and their sense of community.

In the face of recent technological breakthroughs and cultural changes, there is much to bemoan about the loss of community.  I also honestly believe the future of our community is dependent upon the revival of physical, actual (non-virtual) communities.  Yet, there are moments where people break from their own lives and work and commiserate with one another in a genuine togetherness.  I wonder if this phenomenon is common in other countries.  Perhaps, other countries have not seen their sense of community erode the way it has here in the States.  I know that the U.S. is not devoid of this attitude and there are plenty of examples of it but it is not as strong as it once was.  Perhaps, we can take a lesson from the queue.  There is still something within us that craves this feeling.