Guide To Being A Local
Here and there one can always find a sprinkling of light-hearted banter on the subject of being a local. It's fun and evokes warm connotations. The subject may require more than banter during the next decade, however, when hopefully a legion of locals will speak firmly on several important issues. Otherwise the destiny of our small county in the sea will be determined by non-locals. That would not be a good thing. While the percentage of real locals in our population is declining, I think there still are a healthy number around. But they seem a bit quiet at this pivotal time in the history of the San Juans. A revised Comprehensive Plan for the County is going to be-must be-adopted in the months just ahead. Honest-to-goodness locals need to give this old archipelago a hand lest it become unnecessarily suburbanized by mainland forces.
What's it take to be a genuine local? The price of admission is actually higher than you might think. It is not simply a matter of anointing oneself with the title and announcing, "I'm in the club." And regardless of the folklore, just hanging around the islands for years or owning property does not automatically bestow membership. Earnest interest in this community backed up with an investment of self is the prime requirement. There are no free lunches.
Psychologists tell us that a person's depth of commitment to any group or cause is proportional to the difficulty of gaining entrance. Translated, this means that the more trouble it is to join something, the more strongly we identify with the something once we are in. In simplest terms, if we pay $250 for a membership, we will be more dedicated and possessive than if we only pay $10. Or, in non-monetary terms, if we have to study and sweat to become bona fide insiders (nurses, Marines, or CPAs, for examples), we are more likely to root, cheer, and pour energy into "our" organization than if it was a breeze to cross the membership threshold. So to the extent that it is easy to be a San Juan County local, "It doesn't signify," as Captain Jack Aubrey would put it. It is babble.
As a practical matter, the climb to becoming a true local runs uphill through some tough terrain. There seem to be two major routes to the summit. One is a long, winding road with a three-percent slope. It can be done in high gear, preferably on a tractor! Most long-term islanders ("old timers") are locals by virtue of their life investment on this road. There are good reasons they qualify. One is that they are the best source of information on the variegated history of the County-from Roche Harbor to Doe Bay, Iceberg Point to Turn Point. Such people provide the information roots vital to the community. They give we who follow in their footsteps points of reference. To know a legitimate old timer is to touch the history of this place. "How long have you been here?" is probably the most asked question when people meet for the first time. Relative newcomers respect old timers who had the wisdom to stay in these islands. We are happy to crown them locals; in a sense they are our ancestors.
The second route to being a local is shorter and steeper, a bumpy road with a seven-percent grade. Low gear is definitely required, and perseverance. Basically this route is more strenuous; it is definitely not for dilettantes. It is really the only one available to seekers who are starting their island journey in mid life.
Relative newcomers who choose this road seek to identify with these islands-what they have been, are, and will become. Often such people have the fervor of fresh converts. They care about the San Juans in tangible ways meant to extend and enhance the rural/maritime quality of living here. Many are doing what they can to insure that our natural inheritance does not slip through our fingers. For example, a good number of them helped write the Vision statement in the existing County Plan: "Werecognize that these rural islands are an extraordinary treasure of natural beauty and abundance, and that independence, privacy, and personal freedom are values prized by islanders."
In summary, there is a price of admission to be an authentic local. In addition to many old timers, some who have paid include those who are a part of 4-H, fire fighting, hospice staffing, EMT work, eagle counting, animal shelters, and our theaters and libraries. People who run quality businesses and make government tick are also in the club. All such people are threads in the fabric of life here. They are players, not spectators, people who pick up chunks of responsibility in the community and carry them around. Locals. Is the price of admission worth the trouble? The ones I know think so. If you're not working on the solution, you're probably part of the problem.
Copyright © 2000, 2003 Steven C. Brandt
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