I just read Sam Beckett’s article called “Your Move or Mine? The Mystery of Sidewalk Courtesy,” (Nov. 5) and I was charmed to find it wasn’t simply a complaint or a prescription for better behavior, or even a wish for some forgotten time when people were courteous. It was a rumination over all the possibilities, a nudge toward remembering our better sides, and a reining in of Mr. Beckett’s own admitted propensity to get stuck in his “investigation of what has gone wrong with society.” As if we don’t all tend to do that!
Coming on the heels of the election on Tuesday, I find …
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I just read Sam Beckett’s article called “Your Move or Mine? The Mystery of Sidewalk Courtesy,” (Nov. 5) and I was charmed to find it wasn’t simply a complaint or a prescription for better behavior, or even a wish for some forgotten time when people were courteous. It was a rumination over all the possibilities, a nudge toward remembering our better sides, and a reining in of Mr. Beckett’s own admitted propensity to get stuck in his “investigation of what has gone wrong with society.” As if we don’t all tend to do that!
Coming on the heels of the election on Tuesday, I find that I’m thankful for most of the folks whom I generally pass on the sidewalk in Chestnut Hill, similarly to how I felt thankful for most of the folks who came to vote yesterday. (I was there all day, so I had lots of time to dwell on it.) We are lucky to be living in such a neighborly area, a comparatively safe area, an area where we can spend time weighing what is rigandht and what is wrong, and maybe fix up our behavior a little bit.
Maybe even say “Hi” when we pass that stranger who is dawdling on the sidewalk. Did they forget their lunch? Oops! Watch it — here comes Mr. Beckett down the same sidewalk, tripping the light fantastic.
Jenny French
Flourtown
