Small Town Values

This piece first appeared in November 27th, 2008 edition of the Pioneer Tribune, a weekly newspaper from Manistique, Michigan. Please visit their website: http://www.pioneertribune.com/
Recently I watched a clip from the popular cable TV program “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” which airs on Comedy Central. [view the clip at the end of this article] The clip showed several members of the “Daily Show” staff at the Republican National Convention back in September. In this clip they were asking people at the convention why they liked John McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin is from a small town in Alaska, as you most likely know, and small town values were part of the McCain-Palin platform.

The handful of interviews that were aired on “The Daily Show” were funny because the respondents claimed that small town values were important to them, but then they couldn’t name any of those values, or the answers that they did give made them look like fools.

The whole thing was quite funny, and I do feel a bit guilty for having a laugh at the expense of those interviewed; they really came off as being clueless.

While the clip gave the impression that anyone who liked the idea of small town values was an idiot, we have no way of knowing how many people that “The Daily Show” actually interviewed for this particular piece, gave well thought out, and intelligent responses. I’m sure that those fitting that criteria remained on the floor of the editing room.

It is difficult for the average person to come up with a brilliant statement when they are put on the spot with a question. That difficulty is compounded when there is a camera and microphone thrust in that person’s face. There was little doubt that not only were the “correspondents” for “The Daily Show” making fun of the people they interviewed, they were also making fun of small town America.

I have no problem with “The Daily Show” poking fun at whomever they want to, after all being funny is their job. This is the United States, and I will defend the freedom of the press and the freedom of speech, even if I don’t like the message. I do have a problem with the apparent fact that a lot of young people actually view “The Daily Show” as a trusted form of news, though. I also have a bit of a problem with a big city television show (“The Daily Show” is from New York) promoting the idea that everyone who lives in a small town is some kind of brainless hick.

All of this prompted me to start thinking about what I thought small town values were. The first thing that came to my mind when I thought of small town values was the idea that people in a small town depend on each other, and as a result are willing to help each other out in a time of need.

The residents of small communities have often been through similar situations. They can sympathize when a neighbor is having a problem. Small town residents tend to look out for one another.

My experiences in Detroit and other large cities have shown me that people look out for one another there too, but they are looking out for a different reason. They seem to be looking out for other people in terms of guarding their own safety.

I recall one winter morning a few years ago when I was vis-iting Marquette [Michigan]. I had just come out of a restaurant after breakfast and discovered the battery of my vehicle was dead. I had apparently left my headlights on and that, combined with the cold air, killed the battery. This meant I was going to need a jump-start.

If you have spent any significant amount of your driving life in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, or any other cold weather area of the country, for that matter, there is a good chance that you have been in a similar situation.
Naturally, I took my jumper cables out and opened the hood of my vehicle. If you haven’t spent much time in this type of climate but plan to do so, I strongly suggest that you equip your vehicle with a set of GOOD jumper cables. Good cables will probably cost in excess of $20, but they are worth it.

The restaurant that I had eaten breakfast in was located inside of a hotel, and there were quite a number of vehicles in the parking lot, but I didn’t see anybody in or around any of them. I started walking toward the front door of the restaurant, and as I did I noticed a young couple loading luggage into their vehicle. I decided I would ask them for a jump. I walked up to them and said good morning, and then I explained my situation and asked if they would be kind enough to help.

I made the assumption, based solely on the overall appearance of the couple, that neither of them was mechanically inclined, and it was obvious that they didn’t really understand what I was asking them to do.

From the look on the face of the man, I could tell that he had a great deal of distrust in me. After all, I was a stranger who was asking him to do something that he had little, if any, knowledge of. It was very much the kind of look I would have expected if I walked up to them with a gun and demanded money.

I don’t recall exactly what I said that convinced him that I probably wasn’t going to steal their car and eat them, but after they finished loading their luggage they trepidatiously drove their vehicle over to mine and I directed them into the proper jump-starting alignment.

He popped the hood on his vehicle and I connected the jumper cables to our respective batteries. A minute later the whole ordeal was over. I thanked them for the help and they went safely on their way. I’m sure that when they returned home to Chicago, or whatever place they were from, he bragged about surviving an encounter with a crazy U.P. native who most likely wanted to kill him and use him for bear bait.

I know that I am making an assumption as to the thoughts that may or may not have been running through his head, but I can’t help but think that what was an inconvenient but fairly routine event to me could very well have been a mildly traumatizing experience for this guy.

This story illustrates to me what may be the fundamental small town value: trust. While small town people may be a bit suspicious of strangers, they are, for the most part, a trusting group, even when it comes to strangers.
Sometimes people from small towns may be a bit too trusting, and I think that some people from the cities look at that trust as naiveté. I’m not saying that city dwellers can’t be trusted, but in the city you would be a fool to be as trusting of a stranger in the same way that people in small towns are trusting.

This perceived “foolish” behavior of small town folk helps to fuel the train of thought, to a degree, that reinforces the stereotype that people who live in small town and rural America are a bunch of simple-minded, uneducated bumpkins.

On the other hand, many people who live in small towns and rural areas see the cities as places full of nothing but a source of high crime rate statistics. Sure, the crime rate is higher in the cities, and there are areas that aren’t exactly safe to be in at certain hours, but not everyone in the city is a member of a street gang.
Cities are relatively safe places but … I feel fairly certain that city dwellers live with more fear than those of us who live in a more rural environment.

Small town America isn’t full of homes with bars on the windows, high tech security systems and floor to ceiling deadbolts on the doors. I hear small town people say time and again that they never lock the door of their house. Personally I think that is inviting trouble, but I understand the thinking.

Most people in small communities feel safe. That feeling of safety is the product of what I think is the very best small town value, trust. It is the very thing that enables us to not live in fear.

That’s a small town value that I like.

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