If you......, you're probably in New England.

This morning I received a humorous e-mail from my Sister-in-Law. It consisted of comments by Jeff Foxworthy about New England. It didn't have the derogatory comments usually associated with "You're Probably a Redneck". Most of them were tender and pleasant. One of them really struck home about what living in a small New England town is really like.
The comment went like this: "If you have installed security lights on your house and garage but don't lock either door, you're probably in New England.". Yes, we try to keep up with the rest of the country but there is a basic trusting and optimism in a small New England town that perseveres through snow and misfortune and the Legislature. We are not necessarily optimistic about the future but we trust that things will stay the same and not get worse. The Nightly News is the only acquaintance that we have with the tragedies and horror of the world today.
This tiny town is a microcosm of what life used to be like all over our wonderful country. We say good morning to each person we pass on the street, even the teen-agers do. Automobiles stop to let a person cross the street. There are no beatings or car jackings or home invasions or hate crimes on the local cable News. There are the meetings of the School Committee and the Library Trustees. I don't recall that an episode of Cops has been filmed in a small New England town. Cops are not cops here, they are Policemen. You don't see them very often but you do see them often enough to know that they are watching over the community. You usually see them accompanying an ambulance taking an elderly person to the hospital. They don't wear Gestapo Black Leather gear, just light blue shirts and darker blue trousers and wear the old-fashioned peaky hats. Some of them are young and some aren't but I think that most of them grew up in this town. They say "Good Morning" and smile but you can feel their eyes as you walk on by. They are not assertive but they are very observant. I guess that they have learned to drop the ob.
We are occasionally blessed with snow. The sidewalks seem to get plowed before the streets are. The Department of Public Works knows this town and the people that live here. There will not be a public outcry if a BIPPY (Big Important Person) can't get to Boston but there will be people at the next town meeting wanting to know why it was so difficult to walk to the corner store for coffee and the newspaper in the morning. Every store has multiple newspapers for sale and none of the papers are from this town. We are too small to have a local paper, there is a weekly paper that addresses this town and several others in one issue, because the biggest news in this town is a High School game or Bake Sale, someone's anniversary or retirement.
There is one Police station and one Fire house, both in the same building as the Town offices. There is one doughnut shop and one grocery store and one bookstore and one library and a bunch of churches. The local Wal-Mart packed up all of their tacky crap and moved away several years ago as the people in this town still frequented the shops owned by people that they went to High School with. Those shops all have tiny bill boards at the local Little League field. There never was a Wal-Mart bill board there.
There is one barber shop, haircuts $10 seniors $8, and the local church bells ring out the time every hour. A train runs through every morning about 4:30 A.M.. Yes, a real train with toots and whistles and a slight shuddering of the air.
Like most cities in America, this town is dominated by business people. Not bankers, the local bank doesn't offer free toasters but the checking account is totally free, even the checks, and if a senior wants to withdraw a large amount of money there are questions. Not CEO's, not lawyers, not real estate developers but simple business people. People minding their own business!
There is a Hot Dog store. All that they serve is hot dogs on butter toasted rolls and they have been in business for quite a while. There is one art gallery and two Liquor stores (Winters can be long in New England) and neither one has ever sold to minors, not even cigarettes.
Sure, we get motion detecting security lights to illuminate the occasional racoon and defecating dog but we do not lock our doors and windows because if someone breaks in we would rather be able to get out fast than confront them. Also, they might be a neighbor in trouble and they would never be denied access. Our hearts and minds and wallets are as open as our doors.
Yes Mister Foxworthy, you're probably in New England. If you are very lucky, you are.