Alviston Blog

When you live in a place for a long time, you tend to get used to things whether they are good or bad. Seeing the same thing every day over time, even when it is wrong, numbs you.

My good friend William just returned to the Valley after living overseas for more than 25 years. He worked in Beijing and Hong Kong and, for the most part, lived in high-rise apartments. Because of the good public transportation system in Hong Kong, a car was not needed. There was a grocery store on the floor below him; it made sense.

There have been several changes here in the Valley since William left. One of them is the way kids get to and from school. When William and I were growing up in Reedley, kids walked, rode their bikes, or took the bus. Very few parents drove their kids to school. Now, it is pretty much the norm. To those of us who live here, it has been a gradual change and acceptance of things being just the way things are. Because of his experience, William noticed it right away, and to him it seemed incredibly wasteful. There are kids right across the street whose parents drive them to the same school that William drives his kids to. Just a little bit of neighborhood organization could save gas and time, as well as nurturing a community spirit.

However, it was not so much the things that have changed, as the things that have not changed, that William noticed. He cannot believe that we still drive big huge vehicles that run on gasoline, or that so many families live in separate houses, both of which are not only very wasteful, but also very expensive. After living in one of the most densely populated cities in the world, it is not surprising that William sees these types of issues so clearly.

While most of us will never have the benefit of living abroad, we can learn from those who have. By listening carefully to people who have lived in other places we can better assess the way things really are in our own communities, and by doing this, we can learn to see through time.

–Mark Alvis