tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post7883730211467218301..comments2024-03-26T13:46:42.738-05:00Comments on 4 Quarters, 10 Dimes: Stoop-SittingDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-91903929411286765732012-06-18T12:46:12.168-05:002012-06-18T12:46:12.168-05:00I've never seen a picture of my great-grandmot...I've never seen a picture of my great-grandmother in her younger days or my great uncles in their younger days. What a treat - thanks David!Michelle Hnathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16006444067406529978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-14973724575289241082012-06-14T09:33:02.342-05:002012-06-14T09:33:02.342-05:00I would agree with you about the acceleration of e...I would agree with you about the acceleration of everyday life that has gotten more and more intense over the last few decades. Part of the reason why nobody stoop-sits is simply that nobody has - or feels they have - time for it anymore.<br /><br />There is also the fact that in general Americans' lives have turned inward. Our houses are bigger, but they're oriented toward the back yard rather than the street. Drive down any new housing subdivision today and what do you see facing you? Garages. It's inhospitable.<br /><br />But to say that <i>We don't live in communities of people with similar backgrounds and ethnicities anymore. We're also not all held to a common set of topics by a lack of educational opportunity that makes everyone's problems common ones that can be jawed over ad infinitum.</i> is to miss one of the major developments in American society over the last half century. <br /><br />We are in some ways far more divided into homogeneous enclaves now then we were when the pictures on this post were taken. We are separated by race in ways that were not true before. We are separated by economic class in ways that were not true before. We are separated by political views in ways that were not true before. There have been a number of studies done on this, each proposing its own mechanism for it, but the fact remains.<br /><br />People were simply forced by circumstance to live close to each other. But we are more mobile now. Many of us can live where we choose and commute to where we need to be. We rarely have contact with differences the way we did a century ago, and those that do are the exception, not the rule.<br /><br />Part of the reason Kim and I travel is so that Tabitha and Lauren don't confuse "familiar" with "normal" the way most Americans do.<br /><br />I don't know how much that impacts stoop-sitting.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-80026965886568214482012-06-14T05:45:44.236-05:002012-06-14T05:45:44.236-05:00Janiece is on to something in addition to the vehi...Janiece is on to something in addition to the vehicularization of traffic. We don't live in communities of people with similar backgrounds and ethnicities anymore. We're also not all held to a common set of topics by a lack of educational opportunity that makes everyone's problems common ones that can be jawed over ad infinitum. So stoop sitting holds less interest today.<br /><br />What we've lost is the slower pace and the ability to think and reflect that that pace affords. On the positive side, stoop sitting was also the by-product of a small town mentality that kept each group firmly in their enclave in the city. People move about more now, and have more diversity of thought.John the Scientisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03467337009577733553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-86006002088618603322012-06-12T16:36:53.672-05:002012-06-12T16:36:53.672-05:00In my neighborhood, there isn't much point to ...In my neighborhood, there isn't much point to stoop-sitting because nobody in this gearhead town actually <i>walks</i> anywhere and there are only so many passing cars one can look at.<br /><br />You need a rich pedestrian traffic for this to work.<br /><br />And decent beverages, I think.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03463621516644789183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977625681756554695.post-88689894721107144662012-06-12T11:50:52.520-05:002012-06-12T11:50:52.520-05:00My neighbors stoop-sit (or the suburban equivalent...My neighbors stoop-sit (or the suburban equivalent) all the time. I don't usually join them because I have nothing in common with them in most cases, and in a couple cases they're just dumber than a box of hammers.Janiecehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06223994862015217811noreply@blogger.com