B Strong
In my line of work, we talk ceaselessly about how to get people off of their couches and into the public square. We talk about the scourge of electronic entertainment and the erosion of the common good. We wonder how to create more energetic civic spaces and more engaging public meetings. Anything to get people out of their homes and into the streets, or at least into the hearing rooms.
But yesterday, we woke up to the news that Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick had issued an order for the residents of Boston to “shelter in place.” In other words, he functionally shut down a major American city. He asked people to stay home, not answer their doors, and wait it out while every law enforcement official in the Commonwealth searched for one teenager. And the thing is, they did. They stayed home, they stayed out of the way, they sheltered in place.
Now that the country is breathing a collective sigh of relief—mystery solved, manhunt over—we are starting to see all see all sorts of opinions about what citizens did before, during and after the Boston Marathon bombing. They applied tourniquets, the gave blood, they called tip hotlines and tweeted out all manner of opinions and speculations. But, yesterday, they stayed home. And that was a collective act of good will and honorable citizenship as well. And an act of faith.
It would be easy to see how a “shelter in place” order could be the harbinger of something sinister—a coup, marshal law, the rise of despotism. But yesterday, the citizens of Boston and Watertown and Cambridge chose to trust their government. They chose to believe that Governor Patrick and Mayor Menino and Police Commissioner Davis were not bamboozling them and that they were doing their best to keep the city—and its residents—safe.
Julie Darcy Drawing
For me, it casts a new light on active citizenship. While I spend my days trying to lure citizens out into public, maybe sometimes the best thing we can do for the health of our Republic is stay home, turn inward, give care and attention to our most intimate needs and those of our families. What would happen if we were to make that part of our definition of citizenship—allow people to stay home and take shelter when they need to? Ask them to trust that there are others who have the skills, the will, and the good faith to look after them this time. Next time, maybe they will be the ones in the position to step up and out. They will comb the streets while others find safety and comfort at home.
As President Obama said last fall, “when disaster strikes, we see America at its best.” And that was true in Boston as well. But while we focus on the strength and bravery of first responders and police officers and doctors, let us not forget the quieter forms of strength we saw this week as well. Let us not forget the wisdom and the trust of the citizens of Boston who knew that this time it was best to seek succor—and shelter—at home.