7:30am.
Actually,
that’s not accurate. 7:27am. That’s when I heard it.
Lawn
mower being used two houses away.
I
was already awake and moving. Terry and I had journeyed the day
before to a family member’s house. Schedule opened up, opportunity
was presented, and we had decided to travel and make a few visits
to catch up with some folks we hadn’t seen in quite some time.
My eyes happened to open before anyone else, so I shuffled along
to work on some things in a quiet and secluded corner.
Where
we’re staying has changed over the years. When I was growing up,
everyone pretty much took care of their own lawns, and a mower
was never started before 9 or 10 in the morning.
Those
days have long since passed. In this neighborhood, we’ve seen
the outdoor care of almost every property taken over by services.
That’s not surprising, the kids have grown and long since moved
to other places while many of the owners have remained. As to
the earlier hours of blades spinning and engines puttering, a
business based on outdoor work needs to make the most of available
daylight.
But
does such a shift of available resident labor plus the options
for operating hours honestly justify a lawn mower at 7:30am? And
let’s make no mistake, since we’ve slid into the areas of professionals,
we are talking about a massive mowing deck, big engine, time is
money so get it done quickly power level of a lawn mower. (You
know. It’s loud.)
This
is not about courtesy in a community however. Part of it. But
not all of it when the airport isn’t too far away, and the runways
go active around 6am. I’ve come to recognize it’s more about schedules
and the daily pace. It’s about the way we do things, when we do
things, and, well, even traffic.
Yes.
Traffic.
Has
anyone else noticed that the volume of traffic where they live
has greatly overrun the travel routes available? In other words,
lots of cars all over the place.
When
you consider such a thought, let’s follow up with this: Of all
the people you know, what would say is the percentage of them
that work traditional business hours? That doesn’t have to be
isolated with 9am to 5pm. Let’s say anything between Monday and
Friday, all holidays off, with daytime working hours.
When
you think about it, it doesn’t take long to begin hitting many
places that do have some type of traditional, old school operating
hours. But being open around the clock and on Sundays is far more
common today than it was two or three decades ago. Just the ability
to work whenever afforded by technology has brought about great
changes to work schedules in recent years.
But
if the world is shifting, spreading out the times and days and
locations where people are putting in their work hours, then why
does it seem like traffic jams are becoming more common and far
larger?
I
know there are small town locations that actually still exist
as small towns. Not the small town tourism concept plastered on
web sites and built on a picturesque park and town hall that hopefully
will drive vacation visitors to… you know… visit. Not the places
where a word like quaint comes up a lot in marketing meetings.
I mean the actual everyone really does know everyone and the stores
close up so folks can go home for dinner communities. (Now, that
idea noted…)
In
most places around the world, you can get a gallon of milk, a
loaf of bread, and toaster oven at virtually any hour of the day.
Real, plug it in, toaster oven. Not online, either. Just head
out, and there’s a store open for you to make your purchases at
4am.
Funny
thing.
I
can tell you the names of my neighbors from growing up. I know
the fastest routes, cutting across lawns and racing through brush,
to get to my best friend’s house. I know which neighbor was most
likely to call our parents for hiding in their yard during evening
summer games. Right down the line, three connecting streets, perhaps
twenty to thirty houses, and I know who lived behind each front
door. (I was even invited to eat within most of those homes.)
Terry
and I have lived at a few addresses in our time together. I can
give you six names of people living nearby out of the last four
addresses of ours. Just six, and six people total. (Perhaps the
scariest part is that drops to four in the last three and three
in the last two.) Times are changing.
The
more connected we are with the world it appears the less likely
we are to be connected to our community. There’s probably something
poignant and timely in that, perhaps exploring the great balancing
act of the universe expanding as it’s shrinking. But right now,
our lawn needs to be mowed. I’d rather get it done this afternoon
rather than risking waking anyone tomorrow morning.