March 9 marked the second anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, when the human species worldwide was forced to seek shelter in place, and in doing so alienating itself from the broader social constructs it has for so long taken for granted. Inter-personal relationships have suffered the most of all as we have gone so long without regular contact with family and friends.
Having written my doctoral dissertation on the German interpretation of “proxemics” – the study of human space and the various non-verbal modalities through which they can be expressed – I have naturally been drawn to Ray Oldenburg, an American urban sociologist, who has written about the importance of public gathering places for a greater engagement within a civil society. In The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Community Centers, Beauty Parlors, General Stores, Bars, Hangouts, and How They Get You Through the Day (1989), and later in Celebrating the Third Place: Inspiring Stories about the "Great Good Places" at the Heart of Our Communities (2000), Oldenburg emphasizes the importance of these informal third places as “the heart of a community's social vitality and the foundation of a functioning democracy;” promoting social equality and community verve through a discussion of “grassroots politics” and thereby creating public association supporting individuals and their communities. These books have been called eloquent and visionary in that they lend the “third place” a necessary and vital balance to the other two “places” – the privatization of home life, which has been the main focus for most of us over the past two years, and our work places which also adhere to certain formal rules yet which many of us have been isolated from in favor of working from home.
These so-called “third places,” on the other hand, are nothing more than informal public gathering places which allow individuals to set aside their daily concerns and obligations with home and work and to enjoy the company and conversation around them. In contrast, third places offer a neutral public space for a community to connect and establish bonds. Third places "host the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gatherings of individuals beyond the realms of home and work . . . but sadly, they constitute a diminishing aspect of the American social landscape."
Informal public life is essential for the health both of our communities and ourselves. The anthropologist Edward Hall coined “proxemics” in the early 1960s and classified four major proxemic zones: intimate space, personal space, social space, and public space, aspects of the physical environment that affect behavior. Within these spatial modalities he also defined audio, visual, tactile and olfactory responses. Hall’s research, along with my own study of proxemic spatial behavioral patterns among the Germans, suggest that different cultures have different expectations of what is socially acceptable in the four proxemic zones.
North Americans and Europeans in general prefer more social space while Latin Americans prefer more intimate contact when interacting with others. Still, North Americans and Europeans tend to draw a strict boundary between private, or intimate space, and public/social space. Population density also defines the noticeable difference between how rural and urban populations erect boundaries between private, which tends to be more formal, and public space. "In the absence of informal public life, living becomes more expensive,” Oldenburg writes. “Where the means and facilities for relaxation and leisure are not publicly shared, they become the objects of private ownership and consumption."
In this particular instance, I am focusing on American social space, the third proxemic zone as defined by Hall. Without the chance for some degree of communal, public contact, we are relegated to our homes and work places where we tend to spend most of our time and which provide very limited social interaction. “Social well-being and psychological health,” Oldenburg tells us, “depend upon community. ”We are able to function better at home and at work as the “third place” provides casual interaction with those with whom we do not work and to whom we are not related. "What suburbia cries for are the means for people to gather easily, inexpensively, regularly, and pleasurably -- a 'place on the corner,' real life alternatives to television, easy escapes from the cabin fever of marriage and family life that do not necessitate getting into an automobile."
This social third space has sadly been a rare commodity over the past two years of the coronavirus pandemic . . . made even more so by the recent up ticks caused by the spread to the Delta and Omicron variants and people returning to the safety of hearth and home. Outdoor gatherings were a premium during the cold and wet winter months. This deprivation of casual interaction is a tragedy for us all and we try to make the best of it whenever and wherever we can.
Recently to COVID numbers have been going down and with the return of warmer spring weather there is once again an opportunity to return to our favorite haunts to renew and reset our social links with friends and family. I have also long counted on these third places as an alternative work place; an opportunity to seek out a social venue where I can be among people as I write while enjoying social contact, something to eat, and perhaps an adult beverage or two.
Coronavirus cases plummeted around the United States over this past year, and states and localities are dropping their mask-wearing requirements. That said, it is still incumbent upon on us to use a little common sense. Just as the COVID number are on the wane, they could easily spike again. This pandemic is not over and it is going to take all of us to do what is necessary to keep the numbers low. If not, we may once again be forced to seek shelter in our homes. Nobody wants that!
So eat, drink, and be merry, but do so with an ounce of protection. It benefits all of us.
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