Third Places have regulars – that
professorial looking guy with the scary big eyebrows, oddball haircut and
careworn herringbone jacket scribbling ideas on a legal pad, the cat glasses
cool and retro Betty Paige dyed hair gal incessantly smoking Gauloises
cigarettes and the cute young couple that used to close the bars but now
sacrifice sleep to the infant they now push in a funky euro-made pram.
Third Places are not the domain of
any gender, age, race or economic status.
Which is to say Third Places ARE the
domain of everyone in the city, town or village that is blessed to have them.
Barbershops most certainly are Third
Places, from Floyd’s friendly banter in the Andy Griffith Show to the antics in
African American barbershops that have become a franchise in popular Hollywood
movies.
Unlike 6 a.m. pilates , 9 a.m.
reporting to work, 1 p.m. dentist appointment, 7 p.m. soccer practice and 9
p.m. tuck the kids in bed at home – Third Places have no hard and fast hours.
Third Places have absolutely no
attendance requirements – which is exactly why its inhabitants love
congregating at them as much as humanly possible.
Part 3 tomorrow
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