The State of Apathy

I received an email today that has me absolutely shocked and downright despondent at the same time. I was asked to not provide the specific details, so I've removed some of the information and changed some other items, but the general message is unchanged.

The writer asks for feedback, so let's open it up for discussion.

I have some friends who live in Morrisville. They are young, have no children yet and have lived in town for several years.

We were talking other day, and as it happened, the conversation came around to (OK, I brought it up) the various goings on in town. I wanted to get their views on things.

Much to my shock, they had no idea what was going on. They were vaguely aware of the “build a new school” issue, and asked what side of the fence I was on for that. I mentioned that since it was all but over and the district had moved on to other issues it didn’t matter how I felt. They nodded. They were unaware of the politics, of the infighting, of all the things that your blog and the papers cover.

I asked how they felt about the Gateway center, and about the Stockham building. They were unaware of those issues also. They did mention that they were glad that there was a new restaurant going into the “new building” on Bridge street.

These are intelligent and articulate people who monitor national and state issues.

They are oblivious to local issues.

I just had to shake my head over this. I was aghast.

It got me to thinking, in light of all that has been said about voter turnout, about people from Morrisville making bad choices in leaders and turning a blind eye to issues, that maybe there is a majority of people in this bedroom community, who only look at Morrisville as a place to eat and sleep. That they don’t have a care or interest at all in how the town is run, or where it is headed.

I’d be curious to read your thoughts on this, and to read the thoughts and experiences of others as well.