Community Living

RI is, as you all know, the smallest state in the union. And yet, it's not as if a short stroll will take you from one side to the other. I drive an hour to get to work! But little by little I am becoming more familiar with the state, its highways and byways, its quirks, its people (who might fall under the category of quirks in some cases).

But last week I experienced a moment that brought the state into focus as a cheery neighborhood full of dear friends. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but hey, it sounded good. In any case, I did have one of those bonding-with-strangers moments that makes me so happy.

I was in the McDonald's drive-through (getting a fruit and yogurt parfait - yum!), stopped and waiting for my food, while listening to sports radio (now THERE is a subject for another whole blog - I love sports radio!). All of a sudden it was as if my radio had gone into surround sound or something. Huh? And then I realized that the Fed-Ex truck that had pulled up nearby was also blaring sports radio! Yay! We were so of one mind!

It reminds me of the time Lindsay started singing a song in the car, and the lady next to us at the stoplight sang the next line! Or when I walked out of the main house singing a song about summer, and a voice wafted down from up near the women's dorm with the next line. Or Claire's recent sneezing story on her blog. So many nice things that bring people together.

Oh! I thought of another one! I was sitting at a stoplight waiting to go, and there was an advanced green for the people coming our way. There was an elderly driver next to me who assumed his light must be green if theirs was, and he went! The car behind him drew up beside me, looked over at me, and shrugged in a mystified and amused way.

Of course, then there are the times in which the whole world seems to be a community, but you are on the outside. Okay, I really only have one example of this. Yesterday I was driving home from work, and suddenly realized that I hadn't gotten hung up in traffic yet, even though I was at the place where traffic usually slows. And then it began to be uncanny. There was no one going under the speed limit in the fast lane! What was going on?! People kept moving into the slow lane when I gained on them. What?! I began to wonder if there was some weird conspiracy going on. Where were all those people who go 60 in a 65? Was there some state-wide event everyone but me knew about? The mystery was never cleared up. I guess it was just a light day for traffic. Strange. But I'll take it!