Town Spirit

Every town has a spirit, a way in which its citizens relate to each other. It is caught by people when they move into the town within about six months, usually without them even being aware of it. After that time, they are usually relating to the other people in that town in ways very similar to the established citizens of that town. The aspect of "community code" may be related to this.

I first became aware of this phenomenon while working on a reservation in northern Ontario. It was a remote location accessible only by air. Its one thousand First Nations citizens spoke mostly Cree, and the fifty or so White people spoke mostly English.

In the spring, after the ice became too dangerous to travel on, and before the ice completely cleared off the water surface, there was a period called "break-up" in which people frequently experienced a somewhat "closed in" feeling, called "cabin fever". If anything was to go wrong in the community, it usually took place during this period. There was an equivalent period in the fall but it seemed to be less severe in its effects on people as it was preceded by summer rather than by an already-too-long winter. I noticed that the white people, especially teachers, started to get on each other's nerves at this time and such friction often tended to interfere with their teaching duties.

One day I commented on this phenomenon to a white friend who had lived in the community for quite a while and had learned the language, so had access to both sections of the community. I said, "it is too bad for the kids that this goes on every year."

My friend responded with a surprising statement. He said, " Don't kid yourself. What these people don't realize is that they are acting exactly the same as the long-time residents of this community. This town has a bad attitude, a bad spirit, a bad way of dealing with each other. I have worked in towns around here and they are not like that. Those towns have their own problems but this one is unique to here. Every year a new planeload of fresh young teachers arrives ready to set the world on fire, and every June many of them leave battered, and bloodied and bewildered as to just what it was that happened.

"What is interesting is that there is so little communication between the two groups owing to a language barrier, but still the attitude or spirit transfers to them within about six months. They are totally oblivious to this phenomenon, but it is very apparent if one has access to both sides of the community. Actually it happens in all communities, it is just that it is very visible in this case, and repeats itself with each new crop of teachers. It is a spiritual thing."

I asked him, "So what does one do when one ends up in a town with a bad spirit, whatever the nature of that bad spirit?"

He replied, "Well, you just go to the top of the hill and plant your flag and say, 'Me and Jesus don't operate that way'".

In the years since that conversation, I have had the opportunity to live and work in a variety of towns and cities. It has been very interesting to watch for and try to articulate the "spirit" in each new town, and assess its degree of health or dysfunction.

In one particular town, I moved into a particularly volatile situation in the company I was working for. It had a number of more or less independent subsidiary organizations related to the department I was managing.

One night when I was working very late, one of the employees from one of the subsidiaries had reason to come in to do his shift at the main office. He did not know that I was aware that he had just been let go by the subsidiary so that that organization could hire one of its friends. After he finished his shift, he came in and sat down at the desk I was working on and said, "You know , at the other office there are a lot of pretty nasty things being said about you."

I replied, "I imagine there are."

He asked, "What's your side of the story?"

So I proceeded to tell him what I had learned about every town having spirit, or a way of relating to each other. I told him that I had been aware that this town had a nasty spirit before I had moved here, and gave him some examples. I told him that I had decided upon moving here that the vision of the organization was a good one, and was worth trying to implement, but that as far as spirit went, "me and Jesus didn't operate that way". I said that I couldn't control what came down from the top of the organization to me, but I could stop it with me and protect my staff from any need to watch their backs or worry about their jobs due to this sort of nasty behavior. I said what my staff did in terms of the folks they dealt with was their business, but maybe they over time would come to appreciate this little oasis from the storm, and decide to create a similar little space in the sphere of their operation. Maybe some day, others will come to do the same thing and this thing gets turned around in this city. However, I noted, that is not my primary concern, because everybody has to make up their minds how they are going to relate to each other. My concern is with my department, for which I do have responsibility. And as for me, "me and Jesus don't operate that way."

The young fellow leaned back on his chair, put his hands behind his head and thought quietly for a few minutes. Then he said one of the most astounding things I have ever heard - a statement which over the years has sustained me in a number of other quite dysfunctional situations. He said, "Just think, When it is all changed, I can say I was there at the beginning."