MEET THE STREET

MEET THE STREET

Years ago when I lived in Melbourne, I was in a villa unit in a group of 10.

One day I was meeting a State Manager of a large firm with a view to taking on a distributorship for his company. I drove clear across Melbourne to see him.

During our discussion, he asked where I lived, so I told him. He looked interested, and asked in what street, so I told him. He looked askance at me and asked what number?

Yes, you guessed it – we lived in the same complex!!!

Of course, from that day on I saw him in the yard continually !!

The point I am making is that usually city dwellers insulate themselves and do their best to maintain a space around them. Natural under the circumstances of living with large numbers of people in close proximity. Rural dwellers are usually more used to co-operative living and sharing resources.

However, as I have said before, in times of trouble our best resource is our local community.

We can watch out for each other, keep an eye on each others places, share produce, share labour, share tools & equipment, babysit etc etc etc.

Problem is, once a calamity has occurred, it is more difficult to get to know people, as one has a wall of suspicion to scale.

Far better to have made some moves BEFORE the calamity strikes.

So let me introduce you to what I call “MEET THE STREET”.

It’s time to make a conscious effort to get to know everyone around you.

Initially –to get the ball rolling smoothly – you might consider doing “fun” things, like organizing a street party, and progress on to other community activities like a combined garage sale, or fair.

Such activity can then easily lead to a very local barter economy, which can then be extended as other streets do the same thing. This then gives bigger resources and a greater pool of labour, assistance and skills.

The time to start is now, folks !! Good luck with it - and remember, it's not the outcome that we ought to focus on - but rather enjoying the journey as best we can.