The People of this Town

[Harlin]

People here, for the most part, are fantastic. Seems to attract some of the best. :-)

[Maynerd]

Just an anecdote, but I think it speaks volumes about the people in our community......

Yesterday's storm seemed to park right over Academy and Flintridge, very close to my home. I was out when the storm hit, and returned to find a lot of debris on the road. When I got to the driveway, most of the decorative rock that used to live between my sidewalk and the street had washed down about 3 doors, and was clogging up the gutter.

I grabbed a wheelbarrow and a shovel, and started recovering the rocks, simultaneously freeing the runoff. Keep in mind, it was still raining. Before 5 minutes had gone by, 3 teenagers stopped their car, and asked if they could help. Within minutes, I also had 5-6 neighbors. What could have taken me hours wound up taking the group maybe 45 minutes to fix.

Now, some shifting landscaping is a pretty minor flood impact, when our friends in Boulder and Estes Park and Manitou and a number of other places are feeling genuinely tragic flood effects. Still, it was strenuous work, in miserable conditions, and having so many hands pitch in without being asked to help made it kinda joyous.

For what it's worth, I tried to slip a few bucks to the teenagers (who I don't even know), to grab a pizza or something, and they wouldn't hear of it. Soaking wet, both from sweat and the rain, they just said "we're glad we could help."

So, for me, the best, quickest description of the 'people of this town' is....."neighbors."

[Terytee]

That's awesome....great post.

[CharlotteRJ]

Maynerd, that's a great story. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[Sonic_Spork]

One thing I keep noticing is when it comes to what is rude, acceptable, not acceptable, in terms of driving, people often disagree and state their opinion (which not everyone agrees with) as though it is stone cold fact.

I think that both this, as well as some of the problematic driver behavior, may stem from how people in the Springs really do come from all over the place. Not only the customs, but the actual traffic LAWS vary in different states. So what one person thinks is crazy might be normal to someone else.

And I've had experience with folks from the east coast who viewed generally friendly-to-strangers behavior as so disingenuous and "fake" as to be actually insulting and rude. It took me a long time of living in Iowa to realize that I actually did hope people had a nice day. Nothing fake about it. And because of living all over, I do think there is a midwestern ingredient in our cultural spice-pot. It's not a geographical thing, just a people thing.

I've been playing APA pool this year in the Springs, and oddly while I've met so many friendly, awesome people, I've also heard people complain about "drama" and attitudes...interestingly the ones doing the complaining seem to be bringing the drama to the table with 'em...