The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter. [volume] (Manteo, N.C.) 1959-1973, 1960-01-15
DOWN
TO
EARTH
By
CARLTON
MORRIS
Editor. The Index
Gutesville. ~. e.

ed off one one OF my Sunday
afternoon radio programs about
the many people / know on Main
St. OF course, l was using n.y.
pothetical Main st. for ] was
thinking in terms of almost all
the towns where / have visited,
sold advertising, or made
speeches.
I BELIEVE I said in effect
that once a man got to know the
folks on Main St., he pretty well
had his finger on the heartbeat
of a town.
WELL, that was only a couple
of years or so ago that / made
that profound statement and now
l am prepared to eat my words.
No longer is Main st. the alpha
and omega of all business in a
town or city, though this may be
true in many cases. Now the
trend seems to be away from
Main St. to some extent and
more and more businesses and
our population GIBBS and flows
along the highways and giant
new shopping centers seem to
spring up miles out of town, al
most overnight. No longer do
people seek to live in great apart
ment houses like rabbits in hol-
low tree, but now they seek out
raw new developments as far out
of town as possible and so help
me, Suburbia has all but re-
placed Main st.
/ MOST OF US are less than a
generation removed from the
country whether we admit it or
not. Now the country boy can no
longer exist on the farm and
must go to town to make a liv-
ing and even though he can no
longer find the wide open spaces
and fresh air of his native land,
he can have a barbecue pit in his
back yard and failing that, he
can keep the old rocking chair
that ma used to sit in by the old
fireplace at home.
ALL OF US love the country
even when we won't admit it.
Just look at the great success of
westerns of TeeVee. Just note
how most men still like to go
fishing and hunting even at the
expense of the family budget.
Westerns do not hold we adults
through their orgy of blood and
CUTS and faxed fights and gun
battles and drug store cowboys.
TRUE these things may appeal
to some, but most of US view
them for the stray glimpses we
get of wide open country, for the
land beyond the horizon has held
our Imagination since the world
was formed. And now that there
are very few horizons left in this
world, we scramble for outer
space and proposed trips to the
moon. We poor old everyday folks
who have to stay at home and
fight for mere existence, get our
secondary thrill by canned views
of great world we never hope
to see except via television.
SHREWD businessmen have
moved their wares to our high
ways in an effort to keep up with
travelling America and they say
the venture has been a smash
success. Of course this does not
mean that Main st. is out of
business, though it does mean
that it isn't as crowded as it once
was.
NONE OF US can imagine the
day when Main St. will be out of
business. For we like to remem-
Der it when a few loafers could
always be found on the bench in
front of the drug store watching
the girls go by. And we remem-
Der the soft clink of pool balls
on summer nights and how every
thing but the restaurant and pool
hall closed up at 6 o'clock, but
everybody stayed upen until mid
night on Saturdays. And the night
policeman would come around at
1905 to warn everybody that it
was against the law to stay open
IN SUNDAYS, Yessir, we who live
in the town own Main st. and we
have become a tight little COM
munity living unto ourselves.
But to the passing motorists,
we are the people who park gro
Gerry trucks across the highways
and back out of driveways in
front of one and all and insist on
crashing our own stop lights and
prosecuting all others who COM
nit the same offenses. We are
the people who want our own
laws enforced at the expense OF
Mr.. and Mrs. Travelling Ameria
and SO it is no wonder the Mr..
and Mrs. America is more than
willing to bypass us and leave us
| to stew in our own ingrowing
juice.
OF COURSE all the people
who are concerned primarily with
Transportation, say that in the
forasaeahle future, the entire