When I was growing up we had a saying, "let's go home and see what the neighbor brought in" It was just one of those things that was said without much thought given to it. Just a casual remark. Those things we say to fill a void, make conversation. It did have a real meaning though as it was a custom in my town that the neighbor may leave something on your porch, like some fish or maybe corn, beans or potatoes. It all depended upon the season and how bountiful the harvest or catch was. It was something done more for practicality than any sentiments of charity. I had more fish than I could eat, share them. But yes, everyone knew everyone else and was aware of need as well. You just didn't mention any of that, just left whatever it was and move on. Most of the time you had no idea who left whatever it was. It was just the neighbor.
I remember my mother saying that as we would leave the beach or finish visiting with her sister. It just meant, time to go home in that context. I can't honestly say I recall ever finding anything on the porch steps left there by the neighbor. I was told however that it was quite a common thing in years past. I wouldn't describe our community as people that lived off the land but they certainly made a living fishing and farming. My parents were often given some of the excess. It was "what the neighbors bought in" in the literal sense of that. Sharing the bounty of the land and sea. An old custom. Today I expect anything left like that would be viewed with suspicion and discarded immediately. There would also be a big concern about "food safety" if it wasn't wrapped and packaged. All we did was smell it and look for rot. If that fish wasn't stinking, it was most likely alright to eat. Clams had to be still alive and that was easy enough to tell, just open it. Crabs and lobsters the same way, had to be alive.
Now when I ride down the street and see all those Amazon packages on the porches I am reminded of that saying. Let's go home and see what Amazon has brought in. It's no surprise though as we can track those packages in real time. We also generally know exactly what is in those boxes. Surprise packages? I might get one for the holidays but it would be very unusual if I got one at any other time of the year. And any package has to be identified as to who sent it. Mystery packages, mystery foodstuffs left on the porch would cause concern. Those are not to be trusted!
We also have the problem of porch pirates. That isn't much of a problem here in Greensboro where I live but I see it on the news a good deal. I'm not saying it doesn't happen here but I'm not overly concerned about it, I don't take any precautions regarding that. I get a laugh out of those videos you see on social media of porch pirates getting caught in the act. I think most of them are fake, set up things but amusing nonetheless. You do have to laugh about things like that when you know there isn't much you can do about it. It's fun to dream about trapping them anyway. Of course, with many of the things I have seen you could be sued, by the porch pirate if they were injured. That's America.
It appears to me that we have gone from philanthropy to pirates. No one was leaving large sums of money on any porches but leaving those foodstuffs was still a form of philanthropy. No one was stealing that stuff off your porch either. It is just a pleasant memory now, something that makes me smile. I have said it to my wife a few times, let's go home and see what the neighbor brought in. She didn't grow up there and I had to explain all that to her. You could call it culture. Culture is a big topic these days, celebrating your culture, defending your culture, preserving your culture and even people appropriating your culture. With that expression I am trying to preserve my cultural roots! That is what some may say. I don't believe that, I'm just enjoying a memory of a time and place gone by. It isn't a cultural thing, it's just a memory. Those old folks had a lot of funny sayings. Very amusing.
No comments:
Post a Comment