Where Is Everyone?
One of the biggest discussions over the past few years has been the simple question: where did everybody go? I really felt that today during my walk. It’s a Thursday afternoon, it’s October. Where are the people?
Guthrie isn’t the largest town, but it’s large enough. And I know that online shopping continues to take away our shopping centers, our downtowns, or common spaces. It seems like there needs to be some sort of reckoning. A reset. A coming back together.
One of my concerns about Guthrie before moving here was how hateful the town is, a perception I was able to garner easily by paying attention online. But in reality, I haven’t met anyone who is remotely like that. There have been a few who are almost certainly conservative-types, but nobody has been overtly unpleasant. In Glencoe, I almost always encountered people like that. There, it seemed like it could be hard to find chill people. But like always, the Internet is not a window into reality. It’s a curated lie, sometimes one that makes us feel better and sometimes one that makes us feel worse.
I think some of that online perception could be changed if people would get out of their houses and be in their communities. Just around me in my own neighborhood, most of the people spend a lot of their time outside. Neighbors aren’t interacting with one another, but everyone is familiar with one another. There is one exception next door to me. I see them only when they are getting in the car to go somewhere or getting out of the car, having returned from somewhere. Otherwise, they don’t seem to be as out and about as everyone else. I like that about this neighborhood. Everyone sees their neighbors. It’s harder to hate people you know. Now maybe we all need to start talking, although it is nice to go outside and read a book without everyone in my line of sight feeling the need to say hello. Sometimes, presence is enough.
I’m rambling. Downtown needs more life. Everything needs more life. Maybe it’s bad actually to buy anything online. I’m guilty. We all are. Maybe culture will shift back to community. Maybe everything will die and the only options will be online shopping. We will see.
[Walk #352, 2.62 miles]
• Location of Walk: home to downtown, Guthrie, OK
• Magpie: red foam clown nose
Playlist
1. Yellow, Coldplay
2. Halfway There (Half-O-Ween), LVCRFT
3. Snap! Crackle! Pop! Music!, Chad Post
4. Night of the Creeps, Lofi Munk Music (feat. Slaapzac)
5. Fare Thee Well, LVCRFT
6. Thriller (Robert Parker Remix) [Instrumental], Scandroid & Celldweller
7. Die With A Smile, Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars
8. C2md (Coded Club Remix), Chad Most & Aria Jay
9. Ruin The Friendship, Taylor Swift
10. Supernatural Oasis, Cain Culto
11. Roses, Adam Lambert & Nile Rodgers
12. Mystical Magical, Benson Boone
13. When I See You Tonight, Joey Amato
14. I Like Girls (Who Like Skulls), DBone and The Remains
15. Calm in the Chaos, Rosé
16. Carnival of Souls, Lofi Munk Music (feat. Ray D.O.)
17. Sunshine & Rain…, Kali Uchis
18. Breeze!, Kali Uchis
19. Bélmez Faces, Lofi Munk Music (feat. Gelch)
20. Hellzapoppin’, Terra Glitch
21. Wood, Taylor Swift