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What you can learn from some old people.

June 25, 2008

carroll gardens screen grab

It’s the last day of guest posts on Todd’s blog! This week we’ve seen some spectacular posts from some awesome bloggers. If Todd ever chooses to backback across Europe or join the Peace Corps, I think we might be able to handle this.

I’d like to share a wonderfully inspirational yet sad video that I found on SwissMiss.Â Roots in the Garden is about a neighborhood called Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn, NY. Like many of the neighborhoods in New York, it’s changing. New condos are replacing old neighborhood buildings. Old businesses are being replaced with national chains. And old people are having a hard time surviving.

The people in this piece are splendid. You couldn’t cast more engaging personalities with all of Hollywood’s top talent at your fingertips. Here’s the thing: There are characters like Vincent, Mario and the others right outside your door. The people that you pass on the way to work or on the way to the gym that most of us politely ignore. What stories could they tell?

A couple of coworkers and I once friended a local that we nicknamed “weatherman” for his habit of greeting passers by with “nice day today” or “looks like rain later.” I shared the bench with this gentleman one afternoon, and in a few minutes learned about the architecture of our neighborhood. What buildings used to be. Where the movie theaters used to be. And I wish I had him on video.

We’re technologists. We stream video from our phones, we record thoughts on Flip video cameras, and share our views on sites like Seesmic and ooVoo. Internet workers talking to and sharing with other internet workers. What if we opened these doors to people without the same tools? What stories could we be telling?

Is your neighborhood history being recorded? How about inviting a local old person to your office today to tell his story?

Filed Under History, Video

Comments

2 Responses to “What you can learn from some old people.”

Leo Bottary on June 26th, 2008 6:35 am

Well done piece. Thanks for sharing !

gavin on June 26th, 2008 4:26 pm

My father-in-law spent a lot of time travelling around his region collecting stories from older people. He recorded them as audio interviews … they are fascinating — not just for the stories but for the sounds of people’s voices and their passion.

As you point out, it’s easy to only see the facade of things, but it takes some digging to unearth the living history beneath.

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