Main Street in Worcester runs North and South. The Church I attended growing up, Saint Peter's, was on Main St. "South" (which was also the name for the general section of the city I grew up in - Main South).
There were three doors to the church in the front and doors on either side. Me, my family and I realized this morning pretty much everyone who lived on the west side of Main Street - meaning the Clark University towards Park Ave neighborhoods - not West Side (capitalized meaning the Tatnuck section of Worcester) - we all used the left side front entrance of the church and sat in pews on the left side of the church. If we ever entered through the middle door in front of the church - we generally made our way over to the left side entrance to the church nave or sat on the left side of the center aisle. I can't recall ever entering the church through the right side front door.
The right side of the church? Well that was for the people who lived on the east side of Main Street (not to be confused with Worcester's East Side which is generally considered to be the Shrewsbury St. section of the city). I'm talking about people who live on Kilby St., Gardner St., and Crystal Park. Those neighborhoods. Those people.
The people from Clifton, Florence, and Dewey Streets - well we consciously or unconsciously self-segregated ourselves from those people. We sat on the left side of the church because we looked down on the people who sat on the right side. We lived on the "right" side of Main Street. The "good" side of Main Street. And we stuck together.
It took me 40-years to suddenly come to this realization.
Sure I knew some of the people and families who sat on the right side of the church. I even dated a girl from Crystal Park. But to be honest I think I always felt the people on my side of the church were superior.
Now I wonder how much different and richer my life could have been if I just sat on the right side of the church every once and a while.
This is a powerful epiphany that the vast majority of people never experience, hence the popularity of reality shows.
ReplyDeleteThere is something to the idea that shows like Maury or even Judge Judy become popular because the audience wants to see people they feel superior to (there's also the car wreck effect where you just can't turn away). :)
ReplyDeleteMy girls used to watch these, and they told me so directly.
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