I was elected to the Boulder City council long ago. Believe me, there were more exciting events that occurred during city council meetings in the mid-to-late 1980s than there are at present. We had Skokie Lennon who arrived in the council meetings while standing at the back of the room. When he had something to say he would erupt with the statement “can you hear me?” Of course we could since he was the loudest person in the room. He would say what he had to say and then leave.
I wasn’t here at a time when the city council was addressing the issue of having alcohol available to purchase by the residents of Boulder City. That likely happened in the late 1960’s. Later, while I was on council, I heard that Skokie Lennon was rumored to have gone through the garbage cans with homes having alleys finding various bottles that previously held alcohol. When it came time to address the city council concerning allowing the sale of alcohol, he brought a sack of bottles up in front of the city council dais while dropping them with the clink of glass. He said something like “This is what the citizens of Boulder City are drinking. Why can’t they buy their alcohol in Boulder City?”
Our city council meetings had real character arising from the cast of characters who would show up with their opinions of the day. None of this was recorded. None of it was on TV. Some of our citizens got so excited that the veins in their necks stood out as they shouted their messages. I was always happy to hear what they had to say. I suppose that’s because I’m an ancient soul who is more accepting of humankinds’ proclivities. I am happy I served on the city council when our citizens were more animated by the consciousness of their hearts. Recording people sort of ruined those days since you used to have to come to a city council meeting if you wanted to know what was going on in Boulder City. Now you can watch it on TV, can’t you?
We need each other don’t we? We have lost the love present in Boulder City in those days to the Internet which can never get us excited about another human being since they are not present with their effervescent faces, are they? Over time, much of this excitement of talking to other human beings has evaporated to the Internet.
When we went to remote communication without the faces and the bodies of other human beings there in front of us, we lost the impetus to speak to each other, didn’t we? Perhaps it was the friendliness of the small town, of about 12,000 people at the time as well as the love they demonstrated that got me to run for city council in 1985. What has diminished that? Where has it gone in America? The same place. Without us talking to each other in person, we don’t recall how important the love attendant to our faces with our tone of voice as well as our body language are in establishing the meaning of our messages.
Say hello to each other again Boulder City. Say hello to the person in the grocery store clerks line. Start up a new conversation with a stranger in a coffee shop que. In order for America to survive, we need each other in a friendly way. Unfortunately, due to the Internet we have each other without knowing each other. Anger and division has arisen from the Internet conversations we carry punching our thumbs into the alphabet when we send a text or post a message. Isn’t much of the love missing from our messages? Aren’t our hearts missing from our messages along with our faces and body language? Love is always the answer.