Nov. 01, 2007 - 22:47 MDT

LOOKING BACK

Thinking back to my youth about how people seemed to be to me.

Of course allowing for the fact that the population where I lived had about the same percentage of dingbats and crabs as everywhere else, they weren't too bothersome, kept to themselves mostly.

In general, both men and women struck me as people with an innate self respect and liking for other folks. People seemed to carry themselves with gentle dignity and treated others with courtesy.

Summer evenings in milling around the neighborhood, often I would approach a porch where people were visiting, listen and often be included in a bit of the action, gently teased, I glowed.

I thought, "When I grow up, I want to be just like them." I tried, guess I fell short many times, but the old teachings seem to crop up when least expected.

I wonder what happened to all that gentility and courtesy that used to be ? When did the one fingered salute become the national sign of greeting and disrespect ?

Maybe it was because here in Denver we were people who were still in the process of "settling the land," that that way of life was courted by all.

I don't really know, as when we lived in Florida, some people there whose great grandfathers and ancestors before them were natives of Florida, had that same quiet, dignity and outgoing courtesy that I learned to treasure as a kid at home here in Denver.

Now that our city and metro area has grown so much, I notice that folks don't know their neighbors and don't seem to want to either. Is that a function of population density ? I still like to be on speaking terms with our neighbors, even to the extent of visiting a bit now and then, but that way of life seems to be on its way out.

Sometimes I wish we could go back instead of longingly LOOKING BACK . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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