COLUMN: From where i sit

There are things from a kinder, gentler South that you don’t see much of nowadays like men opening car doors for women. There are still some gentlemen who do this, but most of them are of the older generation. I remember when John and I first met; I’d stand by the car door and wait for him to open it. Now I find myself speeding up to get in the driver’s seat. I drive faster than he does.

My uncle from Charleston still opens the door for my aunt. They were in town for Mandy’s wedding and were two of the people I couldn’t have made it without. They make the best pimento cheese ever and made sandwiches for the wedding. They were two of the people who helped make it all possible.

The same goes for men standing up when a woman enters the room. That’s one I haven’t seen in a long time.

On my way back to work from getting lunch on Monday, I was behind a white-haired man in a white pick up truck. As he stopped at the intersection, I saw him roll his window down and talk to a young girl who was walking. He must have asked her if she needed a ride. It was very hot, and she appeared to be walking to work at one of the local restaurant chains by the looks of her uniform. She hopped in and off they went. You just don’t see many people offering rides to strangers anymore. In fact, that was brought to my attention earlier that morning as I drove down Bobo Newsom Highway. I saw a man on the side of road hitchhiking. No one stopped. I always feel guilty for passing someone by when I have no other passengers in my vehicle, but I don’t feel safe stopping as I imagine most people don’t.

It is fear that keeps many from doing simple things that were once a part of our way of life such as picking up strangers and offering them a ride or stopping to assist someone with car trouble on the roadside. Thank goodness there are some folks out there who still stop. On my way to work on Tuesday, I saw a woman standing beside her SUV as a man changed her tire. I don’t know if he was someone she knew that came to her rescue after a cell phone call or a stranger helping someone in need. I know that I have been stranded on the interstate on several occasions and at the mercy of strangers. I’ve had truckers, senior citizens, highway patrolmen and young men stop and help. They’ve changed tires, called for help and once a man and his wife followed me off I-95 to a station to get a new tire after I had a flat with no spare, just a donut. The station wouldn’t take my out-of-town check, and the man pulled out his wallet, paid cash for the tire and took my check. I’d never met the man before that afternoon. He was a good and trusting person.

As I continued to work, it got me to thinking about the things which seem to be fading from our landscape as well, like lightening rods on rooftops, clothes on the clothesline flapping in a summer breeze, screen doors, old ladies with their straw brooms sweeping dirt driveways, and the sight and smell of cured tobacco just out of the bar.

From where I sit, these things are like a good western – few and far between. This might be a good thread to continue on HartsvilleToday. Go to http://www.hvtd.com. I’m sure many of you can think of more things that are vanishing from our southern landscape.