Playing Ball in the Street

This morning, I watched a boy playing ball in the street. He was alone, having a great time throwing a ball into the air and catching it. Or, chasing it around when it went awry. I watched him for a few minutes and realized that in all that time, no vechicles came along to disrupt his game. I also realized that it was prime cartoon time, and he was outside playing.

This is not an uncommon sight in my neighborhood. At any given time children can be found in the streets playing ball or other games. Further, yards house younger tots who are also engaged in active play. The boy across the street has a paper route. The older kids congregate downtown at a park or by the Richdales (a convenience store held with as much regard by the teens as the Vatican by the Catholics). Yes, there is casual drug use and the occasional incidence of shoplifting. But, parents with toddlers and senior citizens comfortably share the park and visit the convenience store without worry for safety.

Kids are all over riding bikes, the parks are filled with children of all ages. Children accompany their parents on bike rides and are happy to be jogger-strollered all over town. What you don't see are packs of kids lost in the virtual worlds created by their handheld video games. You see many teens in the garb of whatever alternative personas are fashionable that year, but even the most ardent gangsta-rapper would run screaming from a real kid from the city.

This is by no means a hick town; however. There are many farms in surrounding towns, but this town was historically a merchant town. A port city. It is dense with construction and this density dates back to the beginning of the historical record. Of course, it has grown over the years, but this burg has always been people-centered, not land-centered. It also went through the expected period of tragic decline. There was a bleak period when it was not a good thing to have your car break down here after dark. But, a successful rejuvenation project was completed and the pearl regained its luster.

Children play in parks and in the street because it is safe. A town where you would ask a stranger to watch your dog while you went into an ATM kiosk. In winter, I stop at a White Hen Pantry to pick up oddities before work and find the parking lot filled with cars with their engines running. No people, mind you, just unlocked vehicles filled with every type of personal and commercial valuable. No one thinks twice. You keep the car running while you run in to get your morning coffee, chat with folks...all the while, your laptop, briefcase, purse, etc. sits safely in plain sight on the passenger seat. Sometimes what sits in that passenger seat is a passenger. Strapped into an infant seat.

Kids have a childhood in this town. They are not oblivious to the realities of the world - evil does happen. We recently had a beloved middle-school teacher murdered, for instance. But, it is a true rarity. No parent lives in fear of their children being kidnapped, attacked or abused in any way. They can run and play. Stop to ask strangers to permit petting of their dogs. They are active and let their imaginations run wild in the various parks and open spaces the city maintains for them. No, they aren't perfect uber-children. But they are CHILDREN. Not pushed to early maturity by circumstance. They still believe in the goodness of life and people. They say "thank you" and "excuse me." As teens, they move through that annoying stage of exerting their snotty independence, but that is part of the human condition. And, if the worst they do is swipe sunglasses and smoke the occasional roach, they are still head and shoulders above the current American post-puberty profile.

I have no children and likely will never have children. But, I am happy to know that this town is kind to children. It lets them understand that the world can be a good place. That people are not necessarily evil, stupid, perverted...it doesn't hide that fact from them, but offers so many opportunities to see the good side of humanity that children can retain their faith. Retain their hope. Retain the habits of mind that will mold them into compassionate adults. Adults that will maintain the communities where children can play ball in the street....