Neighborliness
Just a little anecdote to leaven your day
I previously posted this as a Note, but I suspect most people don’t read Notes.
The other day I took my project car out for a test run and got about two blocks before it died. As it sputtered to a stop, there was a group of maybe 8 high school boys standing nearby. They were looking at me and seemed on the verge of cracking up with laughter. I yelled over to them and asked them to come give me a push. They jumped right to it. It’s a very light car, and with that many people pushing we were soon at a running speed along a busy street, with traffic backed up behind us. I jumped in to steer around a corner and into my driveway.
They seemed elated. The job was finished, but they didn’t seem to want to leave. A couple of them remarked on the unexpected turn of their afternoon. I chatted with them for a while; they asked about the car. Then I sent them on their way.
I remark on this episode because moments of mutual aid, the call and response of a person in need and assistance rendered, seem less common than they once were. I wonder if these boys have ever participated in one before. Especially given the fact that the Bay Area has the lowest social trust of any place studied, and these are kids whose crucial years of formation, in middle school, occurred during Covid. The atomization here, particularly in the South Bay, is profound. They seemed thrilled with the spontaneity of what had just happened. I took a small ego-risk in calling out to them, expressing faith in their good will. I didn’t ask them to sign a waiver before pushing the car. They responded in kind, with good cheer. Anyhow, I think it made a big impression on them, this moment of civic sociability. On me as well.
I guess my point is just that young people are hungry for something human and real — something not involving an app, or bureaucracy. And maybe… for something to be asked of them. It was almost like I had done THEM a favor!
If you know someone who might appreciate this anecdote, feel free to share it.
People love to help others! The Dalai Lama commented that when he asks people what was the best time of their life, the inevitably recount a time when. they helped another person. This is how the Holy Spirit works through us.
My experience as well, Matt; give young people a project they can do with their hands, something where their effort truly matters (like when I asked some students to help me build a fence, and said I would pay them in food), and they come running.