Steve Pollick: Comfort found in small-town community amid chaos of touch-screen world
Why I like it here:
We recently had a washing machine fixed, same day, by Denny Schade of Randolph’s in Gibsonburg. The machine’s door was locked shut with a load of clothes in it.
A year ago our well-pump failed on Christmas weekend when it was 6 below. Ralph Molina the plumber was willing to come out on Christmas — not! — but showed up the day after in finger-freezing cold and repaired a broken cable at the wellhead in 30 minutes.
America's true nature found in small towns
These are the kinds of people you get to know and love by living a long time in a small town. It is the true grit of America, an America too much forgotten or at least unnoticed.
Geoffrey Holt — the simple-living, small-town caretaker who left his New Hampshire community a welcome fortune “to do good” — recently made national news. Every community has its Geoffrey Holts, writ large and small, if only we open our eyes to them and turn off the cacophony and braying of social media talking heads.
These good-neighbor actions are too much overlooked in these days of wearying floods of political garbage — lies, distortions, anger- and hate-mongering — most of it bereft of evidence and facts.
My kids, who now live in busy urban centers, have encouraged us over the years to move closer to them … for what? Noise? Anonymity? Chaos?
We know our home community: Consider that our doctors (Mary Wonderly, George Stepanic), dentist (Tim Sauber), our auto mechanic (Bob Baker), our friendly local grocers (Mike Chudzinski and, separately, Karen O’Neal and Pete Chudzinski, and the Longanbach and Overmyer families at Tjay’s Farm Market) all know us as people — not as just another number on a day’s schedule.
I voted for Kyle Amor, township trustee, and Alexis Brickner, township fiscal officer, not because they had an “R” or “D” or even an “I” for party affiliation. I voted for them because they are neighbors; I knew their parents and grandparents…
Helpful neighbors a jewel in touch-screen era
This is a great comfort in a bewildering, plastic, touch-screen, wait-in-line, artificial era. It is grounding, centering. I hope that you have your own such circle of helping neighbors here as well.
There is value, and a lesson for America in this, which stands on the abyss of authoritarian ugliness. This is one reason why we choose to remain, and live, where we do, Sandusky County, Ohio. We are not strangers, but neighbors. It matters. This is not insular, naïve, or small-minded; humans evolved as social beings living in small communities and it still is true.
Even folks who live in big cities need to find their own “neighborhoods,” folks they can trust and rely on.
We need to think about the good stories of real people — you can read about them every month in Reader’s Digest, for instance. Think about how much that the lives and good deeds of these neighbors contrast with rampant, anonymous social-media nastiness.
Think about the wisdom and universal truths that can be gleaned from collected humanist and religious teachings. The basics are the same. They all can be distilled into one, simple teaching: Be kind to one another, and share. If we truly follow just that one teaching, everything else falls into place.
The holiday season, above all, is a time to reflect on such things, and on lovingkindness, and resolve to act accordingly. All year long.
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Pollick: Finding comfort in community, small town neighbors