Some Thoughts on Not Being a Native

The differences between natives and newcomers are real and significant. People who have lived in a small, rural town all their lives develop a sense of community that isn’t available to someone who grew up in a larger, more anonymous place. Though it goes against the common wisdom, I also think the natives are more cosmopolitan, in the sense of coming to know and appreciate a wider range of human types. In a big city, you can choose your friends from among the 200 or so people who share your feelings about everything. In a small town, you have to get to know the neighbors you’ve got. It’s perfectly reasonable to ask if someone who hasn’t had a small-town experience can truly represent those who have.

Even among small towns, I believe Ashfield is unique. I can’t begin to list the people – statesmen, educators, writers, engineers, politicians – from Ashfield who have had an impact on the wider world. By contrast, the town where I grew up in Pennsylvania (population of about 5000) was best known for once having been the home of Jim Backus, who played Thurston Howell III on “Gilligan’s Island.” The assumption that anyone competent and well meaning, even if they’ve newly arrived, is capable of running this town fails to recognize its uniqueness.

Finally, I suspect the “Vote Native” sentiment is an unfortunate if understandable reaction to something I’ve often seen among my fellow newcomers – a tendency to treat the natives with benign condescension. This, I believe, shows a blindness to who the natives really are. Those I have come to know have been intelligent, sensible, generous, and affable. Those who cannot see this are missing something and should open their eyes.

To sum it up, I wasn’t born in Ashfield, but I rather wish I had been. I think I’d be a better person for it. That realization gives me a healthy humility that keeps me from trying to tell the natives how to run this town. Ted Murray seems to be a reasonable, open-minded man. I hope, especially in light of the close vote, that he will come to share this humility.

David King