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Unofficial Mayors

Mon, 11/21/2005 - 10:04pm — Sarah
Many neighborhoods have them. The all seeing eyes. They know who is doing what, when, where, and often why. If they don't actually know, they certainly have an opinion.

Ideally the unofficial mayor of a neighborhood has a dog that needs walking. They then have a habit of daily strolls during which they watch, observe, catch up with local gossip, pick up litter, attend to a little gardening and pruning, and add to their storehouse of community knowledge. And their dog is good at sniffing things out too.

I knew who one of the unofficial mayors was in my neighborhood, I'd enjoyed conversations with her, I'd picked up litter with her. Today while doing laundry, a miracle happened. The unofficial mayor visited with me, nothing really miraculous there, but another woman joined us, and I realized that I was in the presence of two unofficial mayors. I shut up and listened.

Respect the unofficial mayors and you will learn a lot about your community.

Comments

Tue, 11/22/2005 - 8:54am — emmettoconnell

Our unofficial mayor lives ac

Our unofficial mayor lives across the street from us. Nice guy who takes walks everyday, and knows the history of just about every family living on our cul-de-sac. We also have the luck of living a few doors down from our neighborhood police chief. Actually she just organizes the block-watch, but its good to know they're around.
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full disclosure

Tue, 11/22/2005 - 10:30am — Robert Whitlock

Sarah, great introduction, bu

Sarah, great introduction, but you leave us hanging.

We want the whole story, the nitty-gritty! What's the haps?!

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Tue, 11/22/2005 - 12:01pm — Sarah

You want the actual intel? Oh

You want the actual intel? Oh the specifics are so micro-local (I just made up that word), on the order of who leaves dryer lint on the floor, who moved in and who moved out, crime trends, how various trees and plants are doing.

The unofficial mayors see the big picture and recount each puzzle piece. I'm grateful just to hear some of their observations and wisdom.

I'm thinking too that most unoffical mayors have some sort of trademark shrug of shoulders, wave of hand, facial expression, something that is their own way of expressing what cannot be verbalized. I interpret one of our unofficial mayor's vigorous wave of arm and hand roughly as "To hell with 'em!" and "Don't sweat the small stuff.".