Stella_Omega
No Gentleman
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We can all agree on this one!
- Thread starter Stella_Omega
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cloudy
Alabama Slammer
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- Mar 23, 2004
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He's right. The spirit of community has largely gone from this country, and that's sad. It's still there in smaller places, and it's definitely still there on the rez, which is what I so enjoyed about living there.
I remember when we first moved to a very small, rural farming community about 15 years ago. The land we bought had been corn fields, and we were planning to fence it, and turn it into pasture for our horses.
We had just basic tools, and started one weekend by using a posthole digger to make the holes for the pull posts - we were using railroad ties. It was backbreaking work, and very slow.
After an hour or so, a guy came along on a tractor with an augur, and offered to dig the holes for the pull posts if we'd just show him where. A little later, a truckload of highschool guys stopped by, and started helping with pulling the wire, and the momentum carried until we must've had fifteen or so people helping with the fence. Kids were relegated to fetching drinks from the kitchen, and everyone worked together like clockwork.
It took us a weekend to entirely fence fifteen acres - something that would've taken us a couple of months to do alone - and in the process we made some friends we still have today.
That's what's missing from a lot of places today.
I remember when we first moved to a very small, rural farming community about 15 years ago. The land we bought had been corn fields, and we were planning to fence it, and turn it into pasture for our horses.
We had just basic tools, and started one weekend by using a posthole digger to make the holes for the pull posts - we were using railroad ties. It was backbreaking work, and very slow.
After an hour or so, a guy came along on a tractor with an augur, and offered to dig the holes for the pull posts if we'd just show him where. A little later, a truckload of highschool guys stopped by, and started helping with pulling the wire, and the momentum carried until we must've had fifteen or so people helping with the fence. Kids were relegated to fetching drinks from the kitchen, and everyone worked together like clockwork.
It took us a weekend to entirely fence fifteen acres - something that would've taken us a couple of months to do alone - and in the process we made some friends we still have today.
That's what's missing from a lot of places today.
Stella_Omega
No Gentleman
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He's also right-- that spirit can return as well, as it did in this case. 
oggbashan
Dying Truth seeker
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This Sunday I'll be out cleaning a local beach with a few dozen volunteers.
The litter behind the beach is efficiently cleared by the Town Hall's contractors but not the area just above and between the tidelines. Most of that litter is sea-borne - plastic bottles, plastic, wood, polythene etc.
The volunteers clean the beach monthly and some of us remove the more dangerous stuff whenever we see it. I'm the provider of the sharps bin and the specialist handling.
It is just a small sample of what our community does all the time.
But SOMEONE drops the litter; someone doesn't clear up after their dog, and someone throws stuff overboard from ships...
Og
The litter behind the beach is efficiently cleared by the Town Hall's contractors but not the area just above and between the tidelines. Most of that litter is sea-borne - plastic bottles, plastic, wood, polythene etc.
The volunteers clean the beach monthly and some of us remove the more dangerous stuff whenever we see it. I'm the provider of the sharps bin and the specialist handling.
It is just a small sample of what our community does all the time.
But SOMEONE drops the litter; someone doesn't clear up after their dog, and someone throws stuff overboard from ships...
Og
Stella_Omega
No Gentleman
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"The tragedy of the commons."
D
DeeZire
Guest
Up in the foothills (McMansion neighborhood) they're collecting donations to retain public school teachers who are scheduled for dismissal because of state budget cuts. They're asking for $500 per household. They've raised $25k so far, with a goal of 1.5 million. I doubt that they'll reach their goal, considering the number of conservative retirees living up there, but it's admirable that they're trying.
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