Jon Schottland is a psychotherapist and a school counselor.
BRATTLEBORO-The other day I was walking my dog on Washington Street in Brattleboro. It was early morning and the streets were mostly empty, when a pickup truck slowly drove past and then pulled over to the curb ahead of us.
A woman dressed in a sweatshirt, jeans, and winter hat jumped out of the cab. She picked up several bags of leaf litter that had been placed there, tossing them in the back of her truck.
The town's decision to suspend leaf pickup this year as an austerity measure in hard times had created an opportunity for someone with initiative to seize the moment and make a few bucks. Or so I thought.
I stopped to chat with the woman and was impressed to learn she was not charging a penny for her efforts.
"We're part of a volunteer leaf brigade," she said.
Neighbors helping neighbors in a time of need - that feels like the Vermont way.
As we got talking, she told me she had a farm outside of town called Lilac Ridge. I'd been to their sweet little farmstand several times.
"I'm Amanda, I'm on the local Selectboard," she said.
Really? This is even better than I thought. The people making tough decisions are out here early on a Saturday morning being part of the solution in difficult times.
Just then, a rental van filled with leaf litter bags slowly approached and came to a stop with more volunteer brigade members: another person from the Selectboard, along with a state representative from a nearby district here in town.
"You must be taking a lot of heat for some of these decisions," I suggested. Amanda said that, well, yes, people have a lot of passion and strong opinions.
"But that's because they all care about something," she said. "They care about our town." She just tries to listen to everybody - that's how she approaches things.
"We have a lot of work still to do," she said.
Then Amanda hopped back in her truck with her dog and drove off down Washington Street to pick up more bags. My dog Tommy Tom-Toms and I turned and headed home for breakfast.
* * *
The whole thing left me wondering what the next helpful thing might be, the next helpful thing that I could do.
How wonderful to live in Vermont, where ordinary people are still trying to find a way to get through the day together with good will.
It made me dream that someday members of the executive and legislative branches in Washington, D.C. could follow suit.
Yes, there's an extended government shutdown, but meanwhile, how about if we roll up our sleeves and serve meals in a soup kitchen to make sure people don't go hungry? At least until the government opens up again for business?
Thanks, Brattleboro, for being what and who you are.
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