A thought on community

I’ve been thinking a lot about community lately. Where do you find it? How do you cultivate it? What does community actually look like?

Today, after taking my girl to her dad’s, I ran errands. The vape shop, first. I know…judge if you must. Chatted with the woman who works there, as we have since the first time I walked in. She gave me her moms number because I mentioned that I had a job interview coming up and her mom helps people with their job searches.

Next, Publix, where I saw my older neighbor, who I barely recognized outside of the context of him walking around the neighborhood, his little weiner dog in tow. We exchanged a quick glance — the flash of hey I know you — gone before I even realized it happened.

Before heading home, I decided to drive with the windows down and my music up while the sun was setting, soaking up one of the last cool days of the year while I can. I’ll be complaining about chafed thighs and not being able to wear mascara in no time, so I didn’t want it to go to waste. I saw that the owner of the cute little coffee shop opening down the street was outside watering plants and I decided to stop by and ask when they’re opening. We had a nice conversation and I met someone new.

As a last minute pit stop, I went into the gas station behind my apartment. It’s a small, locally owned place. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been chatting with one of the managers there about how slow business has been this past year because of medians that were put in. Turns out it’s affecting…