THE PROBLEM WITH OUR SOCIETY IS … GARAGE DOOR OPENERS

A post for Throwback Thursday

Yes, you read that right. Let me explain before you call me crazy.

When I was young, we all parked our cars in the garage. In order to do that, we had to (gasp!) get out of the car and lift the garage door so we could drive in. Many times we would park in the driveway and drive in later, if we knew we were going out again.

I should interject that from the time I was 10 or 11 years old, I was privileged to unlock the garage door and open it so Dad or Mom could drive in. I was the automatic garage door opener, rain or shine. 40-some years later, I have been replaced with an electric one.

That simple act of getting out of the car was visible to all of us who were outside playing (yes, we did that, too), and we knew who was home and who was not. It was something of a social thing each day. Of course, we would wave and shout our hellos or goodbyes. Frequently I heard “Can I go play with Bob for a while?” and another neighbor would join in with us.

There was often time to visit with our neighbors when they got out of their cars. Sometimes it was a quick exchange of pleasantries; sometimes it was a longer conversation. Sometimes our moms would point at us when the talked, and we wondered what kind of trouble one of us was in. The important thing is that we knew our neighbors and they knew us. Most of us were friends.

With the advent of the automatic garage door opener, much of this interaction ended. In many neighborhoods, one arrives home and pushes the button. The door lifts up, and entry is granted. Once the car is parked, one pushes the button and the door closes. No human interaction is needed with the outside world.

Granted, if you had a neighbor like Gladys Kravits in Bewitched, this could be very beneficial. But in general, we have lost what was once a consistent contact with those around us. And if you don’t mow your own lawn, then you miss those interactions as well.

I’m not saying we should ban automatic garage door openers. But maybe we should just ditch the Genie ® one day each week and actually meet our neighbors as we are coming and going. I would suggest throwback Thursday, for obvious reasons. It could be fun. Or not.

But it probably wouldn’t hurt. It just might make our world a little nicer.

SAVE OUR NEIGHBORHOOD! OPEN YOUR GARAGE THE NATURAL WAY!