My friend Nan, steam coming out of her ears, stopped her Honda Fit for our Saturday talk. She had a lot on her mind. She was overflowing with indignation, as she often is, and frankly, she was on target with almost all of her concerns. She tries very hard to hold our town mothers and fathers accountable when things go wrong. This week, she thinks a lot is going wrong, ranging from what she considers the decrepit state of public transportation in Great Barrington to the fact that the poor people of Housatonic have a catastrophic situation with their drinking water. I keep telling her that if she is so indignant, she ought to run for the Select Board herself. Like so many others, she just won’t take on that responsibility. I can’t say that I blame her. I did exactly that years ago in Alford when we lived there, and boy, was I ever sorry. Being a town official is very, very hard.
The first of Nan’s concerns had to do with the lack of a decent water supply in Housatonic. Housatonic is part of Great Barrington, but in Great Barrington proper we have decent, potable water. Not so in Housatonic. Said Nan, “I don’t care whose fault it is—it is criminal that we are allowing the conversation about water to malinger.” The water is discolored and disgusting. This needs to be fixed.
“Water is essential,” she continued. “The town ought to have four or five water trucks. It is the responsibility of the town.” When Nan spoke to the members of the Board of Health and the Select Board, she was assured that things would be fixed. She reports that one on-looker said, “I hate to say it but we’re going to have a demonstration and there might be violence.”
Nan also is quite upset that young, old, and poor people who use public transportation have no place to sit and no protection against the wind, rain, and snow. It is true that many of the people who live and work in Great Barrington and Housatonic drive and do not use the limited public transportation the town has. Some of that has to do with the fact that the automobile is still ascendant. But this ain’t New York City and we have no subway system.
If you think about the situation, much has to do with the huge gap between those who have a great deal of money and those who do not. I live on Hollenbeck Avenue and we have no bus stop and no bus on our road. If you want public transportation, you have to go where it is rather than the other way around. Naturally, it might be possible for the town to meet the needs of people who need public transportation if there were the kind of outcry for the service that would lead to change. Apparently, very few people want it.
Let’s face it—many towns do not offer public transportation and other services because they do not want a town that makes it easier for poorer people to live there. If you don’t believe that, try giving yourself a whack on the back of your head. It might help.
Part of the reason why things don’t get fixed in our towns and villages is that too few people take their civic responsibilities, like voting or running for office or serving on appointed town committees, seriously. Trust me, I get that. Fortunately, there are people who are willing to do the hard work, but there are far more who are content to let other people get their hands dirty.
