On the feudal system, and the best testimonial I’ve ever had…
By
I live in a small village on the outskirts of York. We have a bakery, mobility vehicle shop, post office, hairdresser and a cobbler. The people in the village that I have come to know and love since I started working from home bring me a bit of sunshine every day. I wander out to the village green and gossip with the baker, head in to the hairdresser and sweep up over a coffee, and take my dog to the post office periodically so she can get a fuss and we can catch up on local news.
I have come to love my village. However, the one person I never seemed to meet was the cobbler. I live opposite his little shop, and have waved religiously at him every morning, only to be ignored.
I gave up after a while.
The other week, he popped over to see me when I was gardening and shouted over the hedge (our usual means of village communication). He told me he’d heard that I could do things with ‘t’internet’, and could I help him? I said yes. I put his site live for him and wrote his content, and in return he re-heeled two pairs of shoes for me.
The cobbler is terribly short-sighted, and never saw me wave at him. Now, he comes over to the hedge and peers over to find me and we have a good old gossip.
I think of this as my village feudal system. Today I got some rhubarb in return for giving some tomato plants. I go to the hairdressers for a trim, and if I don’t have enough cash on me I give her wine. The bakery make cakes for me for charity events, and in return I give them business advice and vegetable plants from my greenhouse. My relationship with my village friends operates on a feudal system of bartering, goodwill and general good-natured chaos. I adore it. When I was struggling to put up a new gate, the baker’s husband came across and lent me some power tools. My adorable neighbours take care of Nietzsche, my dog, all the time because she has separation anxiety and can’t be left alone. I ply them with hostas and geraniums. When I’m down or need a fix of friendliness, I go and see them and they pick me up. They make me smile every day, greeting me over the hedge.
I got the following testimonial from the cobbler today, which made me laugh for a very long time, and also warmed my heart. Here it is…
“Thank you Jen, If I live to be 120 years old I cannot imagine at this time that I will ever experience the deep joy and satisfaction that I have had today when I first viewed my new website, after a lifetime dealing with conmen, spin merchants, shysters and inveterate liars it is a breath of fresh air to actually meet someone capable of producing a satisfactory result, may God bless you. Thank you again.”
Does it get better than that? I get my shoes fixed, he gets his technology sorted. You have to love, love, love this whole community thing. Long may the feudal system and bartering continue! I’m hoping for some broad beans next, in exchange for writing. I like broad beans.
Hi Jen,
Congratulations on this. You are justifiably pround of making your cobbler a happy chappie. So, next time I’m down t’pub, I’ll be seeing who i can barter with cause i think this brings us together so well in a society where it seem technology drives actual face to face communication further down. And this isn;t a good thing.
A wonderful blog and thank for sharing,
Lance
Lance Nelson´s last blog ..YouTube Video: It’s Serious Fun For Travel Bloggers
Hi Lance,
Thank you! I’ll swap you a pint of Fosters for some rhubarb, if that works for you?
I wish we could all go back to more old-fashioned payment terms for services, and hope my little village community stays rooted right in the past for many years to come!
With best wishes,
Jen
Jen @ Blog writer´s last blog ..Tongue-twistingly terrible typos…
Got to love the community when youy have good people around. For myself I guess you could say that is what we do with our neighbor. When they are out of town I look after there place and if I am out of town they look after ours. Then of course I don’t have the greenest of thumbs, so they help me with my flowers and plants and I give them the margarita mix. Then we sit and enjoy it all together.
Love the picture, it looks so warm and nice.
Thanks Jen for riminding us of what we have in front of us.
Debbie
Debbie @ Happy Maker´s last blog ..Why Talking it Over Makes Us Happy
Mmmm Margarita mix – I think your neighbours are getting the best deal there! I loved your comment, thank you Debbie x
Jen @ Blog writer´s last blog ..Tongue-twistingly terrible typos…
I love the bartering idea. I don’t know what people call shoe repair people here in the states, because I call them cobblers. Then, people get confused because they can’t figure out what shoes have to do with peaches – as in peach cobbler.
I love your village. What a marvelous life you have
Cheryl@stay young´s last blog ..I need a miracle to stay young from the inside out – how do I walk on water?
LOL! I’m not sure what a cobbler is called in America – I like the thought of peach cobbler though! Tonight we are having rhubard crumble, which is nearly as nice and made with fruit from one of the allotments in the village. I guess you’re right – life is pretty sweet
Thank you for commenting!
Jen x
Jen @ Blog writer´s last blog ..Tongue-twistingly terrible typos…
Reading your post made me feel like being read a bedtime story from a book with beautiful drawings of people and places. The photograph, too, has an air of otherworldly about it. Then I realized it describes life near good “old” York – as opposed to “New” York – and it somehow made sense. What a charmed life, “a bit of sunshine every day.” Doesn’t it, just by itself, make it all worthwhile? Anyone reading your post will know the answer. Let’s hope many do.
Beat Schindler´s last blog ..What A Babyful World
Hey Beat!
Thank you for your comment – you’re right, it does make it all worthwhile. Sometimes when I get bogged down with work and stress, I just need to open my back door and look out at the green, or take a stroll. I love your comment about the bedtime story
Jen
Jen @ Blog writer´s last blog ..Tongue-twistingly terrible typos…
Dear Jen -
You are a consummate storyteller. It is a lost art.
I enjoyed every word of this.
And it made me feel like I wanted to move to that small town. Right next door to you.
Just charming. Thank you for brightening everyone’s day.
Corinne Edwards´s last blog ..Decision – Decision – what to do what to do
Dear Corrinne,
Thank you so much for your lovely comment – you’ve made my evening! I think you would make a fantastic neighbour
Jen x
Jen @ Blog writer´s last blog ..Tongue-twistingly terrible typos…
This sounds idyllic and how communities should work together – if you believe everything you read you wouldn’t think such villages still existed. Do what you can to keep it going.
David Rogers@self confidence´s last blog ..Time for Change
I’ll do my best! To be honest, I think there are communities like this all over the world. I grew up in Derbyshire, and we used to leave our back doors open and just wander from house to house. I hope to always have the kind of home where people come in, lost souls get adopted and we carry on a good old-fashioned sense of community spirit
Hi Jen: What a great story, and such a good system you have going there as well! We don’t do much bartering in my town, and we certainly could use more of that good community feeling you experience in your village. It sounds like a great place to live.
Hey Lisa,
Glad you liked the story! Maybe you could set up a stall selling veg and see how many contacts you make in your town
Jen x
Jen @ Blog writer´s last blog ..Tongue-twistingly terrible typos…
Thanks for sharing, this is a fantastic blog.Really thank you! Cool.
Your story reminded me of a UK TV program I’ve been watching over the last few weeks. About a vicar who tried to live without cash.
How would do any work and in return get paid in veg or food or petrol for his car.
Did you see it?
Sounds like you could live without cash!
Andrew
Andrew @ Blogging Guide´s last blog ..Search Engine Optimization Is Easy And Cheap
I haven’t seen that – but it sounds like a great way to live! If only we had someone who ran an M&S shop in the village, I could give up my purse permanently!
I wonder how the vicar paid his electricity bill?
Jen @ Blog writer´s last blog ..Tongue-twistingly terrible typos…
Your village reminds me of my “hometown”. A small place of about 1000 people 20 miles from no where. If I did anything wrong, my mom knew before I could walk home. I couldn’t wait to get away, now I miss it.
You can create your village, where ever you live, by carefully reaching out to neighbors and local merchants. Just like on the internet, they need to know you value them and that you are real and not just on the “take”.
Bruce “the Mid-Life Mentor”´s last blog ..Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-30
Your town sounds really lovely. I agree that we can all create a sense of community by being friendly and open to new relationships – it doesn’t take long, even in this day and age, to forge new freindships and get back to our roots! Thanks for commenting, Bruce!
Jen @ Blog writer´s last blog ..Tongue-twistingly terrible typos…
I love the way you might not have enough cash on you for the hairdressers, but you do have wine. Always carry some wine, that’s what I say!
Great story, I like that about England, though over here I know my mailman quite well (as well as you can) as he’s always delivering stuff. He brought me some eco-friendly ant spray around the other day as he noticed ants on my drive. Not sure what I can give him in return for that….
Joel´s last blog ..More Easy Blogging Tools For You
I do have a sense of priority in my life, Joel
Thank you, Jen.
This is a lovely post… I’m not certain that I behaved in the most neighborly way when I was in a small town. It would be interesting to try again and see how much I could connect with the community.
A dog named Nietzsche with separation anxiety… seems appropriate for some reason.
keep smiling,
Benjamin
Benjamin@Online Free Self Hypnosis´s last blog ..Guest Post at AnmolMehta.com…
Hi Benjamin,
Being neigbourly depends a lot on our neighbours and how nice they are! Neetch is very well adjusted apart from the seperation anxiety, so doesn’t follow her namesake fully (thankfully!)
Thank you for posting, I’m really interested in your site – I do hypnotherapy too – can we connect?
Jen
Jen @ Blog writer´s last blog ..Anagrams – an example of people with too much time on their hands
Absolutely!
Technically, I don’t practice hypnotherapy, though.
I practice and teach ’self-hypnosis’, and when I run workshops I lead ‘guided meditations’. But in the state of Colorado, you can’t call what you do hypnotherapy without a license…
(laws make for fun wording of things)
Getting a license is on my long list of things-to-do…
keep smiling,
Benjamin
Benjamin@Online Free Self Hypnosis´s last blog ..Online Free Self Hypnosis – Pain and Stress Reduction
That sounds so good Benjamin – let’s connect on Skype and have a chat when you have some spare time? It would be great to see if there’s a way we can connect. My new blog is http://www.stilustherapy.com – still early days for it but I’m hopeful!
With best wishes
Jen
Hi, like the story. Bartering is a very nice idea to safe money. And I think it protects the environment as well, especially when you don’t barter only services. If someone of you is interested in bartering in a bigger circle, check out http://www.barterquest.com. People are offering services next to goods and even real estates.
Hi John – Lovely to get your comment. I really like the site. I’ve never seen it before but I think it’s a fabulous idea!
Jen
So, why do people move into cities? I grew up in an environment just like what you described. Then, bigger and bigger cities, more and more cash, less and less friends.
Tom´s last blog ..What Can a Musical Genius Teach Us About Accessibility?
You have a very good point, Tom! The only thing I can think of is that cities provide better wages – but for those of us who work from home, there’s no excuse to not reap the benefits of living in a rural area!
Jen @ Blog writer´s last blog ..Anagrams – an example of people with too much time on their hands
Hi Jen,
I’m touched with how you and your neighbors appreciate your doings and then give back simple means rather than give big amounts of money in return but with less willingness.
I also would love to live in that calm, peaceful and nature friendly environment. At least, after I get to work on the Internet, all I have to see is serenity when I cycle my way down the neighborhood which gives intense relaxation than breathing the air of pollution right from the cities. Well, I visit the cities when I travel but I make sure that when I get home, I’ll get stress-free environment after facing all those crowds outdoors.
Thanks for sharing this lovely story.
Tyrone
Hello Tyrone – thank you for your comment. Your neighbourhood sounds lovely too! You’re right – it’s great to shut down the laptop and go out in to the real world and interact with people away from a keyboard! I do think it’s nicer to trade in services and goods rather than cash, but not always practical as a way to pay bills
Jen @ Blog writer´s last blog ..Anagrams – an example of people with too much time on their hands
Good on you for choosing wine over hair
This is another great post!
Krizia
Thank you, Krizia! Wine over hair, every time
A good post indeed! That’s the sunny side of your writing, you write in a lucid manner and I have no difficulty to understand what you have said, even though I am a complete newbie. Keep the good work going by continue blogging new and entertaining posts. I have already subscribed to the RSS feed of your blog and look forward to reading more of your blog posts in the future.