A town near us has a couple of festivals every year and they close the main street so there is no traffic. This means that businesses with parking lots can’t use them. One fast-food restaurant, which is currently under renovation, blocked the entrance and exit to their lot during the most recent event. There was no work happening and nothing was impeding vehicles from being there; they just closed it off. This town, like so many first-ring suburbs, has severe parking challenges, and the vendors have to get in really early to unload and then find parking. I wondered why this business didn’t allow some of them to use their lot as a courtesy. The spaces are limited, but it would have made the work of the early birds much easier.
Our church has a large parking lot which, during the pandemic, we opened to the neighborhood. We already allowed them to park from 9pm-8am, but we felt that, since it wasn’t being used, why not? We didn’t do anything heroic; we were just being good neighbors. Of course, when things began to return to some semblance of normal, we had to let our neighbors know that they couldn’t leave their vehicles there all day. Most were grateful, but there were a few who argued and refused to move, stating that this spot was “their” spot. One person was so belligerent that, after a week of asking nicely, we had him towed. We hated to do it, but we had no choice.
I am not (and hope I never will be) one of those people who goes on about how people were so much more polite and better behaved in the past than they are now. I have seen incredible rudeness and amazing kindness my entire life, and I don’t think things are worse; they are just different. Sure – there’s a lot more profanity in public and lots of things have gotten more casual. Still, I don’t think things are devolving in the way that so many people do; I think we have always had a problem with kindness to strangers. People have always called the police when someone “doesn’t belong” in their neighborhood. People have always used nasty words to describe those who are different than they are. I think that people are just people, and we have our flaws.
It may be that our divisions are causing more public discourtesy; it may be that people with privilege are losing their power and are acting out like toddlers. It may be that we are all wound so tightly that we explode into violence, road rage, and selfish indignation more easily than in the past. Regardless of the reasons, it seems to me that it doesn’t take a whole lot of effort to be courteous; to allow someone to enter a door in front of you; to let someone into traffic instead of forcing them to wait. I don’t expect grand displays of generosity, but I wouldn’t mind being pleasantly surprised by random acts of kindness a little more often. Lighten up, everyone; life is too short to treat each other badly. It costs nothing to be a good neighbor.
Prayer – Help us to pause, O God, when we want to lash out in anger. Help others to do the same for us. Amen.
Today’s art is a portrait of a guy who knew a little about courtesy and kindness and being a good neighbor. The artist is Debra Hurd.