From chaos, order emerges
The annual Hoedown in Detroit brings all the mouth-breathing, buck-toothed confederate flag-waving hillbillies from Oxford and Romeo and god-knows-where-else into the City’s Hart Plaza for a weekend; and as refreshing as it is to see thousands of people milling about the city at night, in the dark (gasp!), these affairs are always clusterfucks of epic proportions. Yet it might not have been all bad were it not for the ordeal that was escaping the parking garage. It is difficult to describe the garage itself, which wasn’t the standard downard-spiral arrangement; there was also a ramp coming up, merging with one going down – while turning around the central pillars to merge with yet another line of cars on the way to the toll-booth.
We moved approximately one car’s length in 15 minutes. Frustrated at this, my friend Adam and I decided to jump out, walk down a little ways and see what the hold-up was. This is when we discovered the aforementioned clusterfuck. We stood there for probably another 15 minutes, watching the cars inch along at a snail’s pace – and then we decided to do something: the two of us began directing traffic, waving cars through one at a time, each direction and lane taking a turn. And all of a sudden, traffic started moving. Really, really moving. Almost everybody appreciated that some sort of order had emerged – some people offered Adam tips.
And I only encountered one asshole who decided not to play along. His girlfriend asked me what I was doing, and I said “trying to keep traffic moving,” to which she responded some hillbilly-shit like, “that ain’t how it works.” No, it wasn’t working before. Now, it is. You’re part of the problem. To this, I had to turn around and shrug in apology to the car they had cut off.
No constable, no sheriff, no master was present; none were necessary. People do not want bondage; they crave order, fairness and equity – and will most often abide by any societal arrangement appealing to these ideals. Even Magnus ver Magnusson could not have imposed his will on a single car or truck in that garage – order didn’t come from force or imposition, but from assent and cooperation.
We maintained some semblance of order for another 15 minutes or so, before Adam’s Oldsmobile came into sight and we jumped back in the car for the final straight-away to the toll-booth. What amazes me is not how easy it was to establish that order – anyone could have done it – but how exceedingly rare it is in the situations that warrant it.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
About The Author
Comments