What makes a neighbor? Do you have to live next to somebody to be their neighbor? Where does the radius extend? By definition, the term neighbor invites exclusivity, since if you don't live close enough, you're not in the club. But the term also invites friendly and welcoming gratitude, despite physical location. Certainly the term can be reduced to the proximity-only meaning, as in describing loud, unruly, or obnoxious neighbors. But these clauses specifically depend on negative character traits to offset the inherent positive nature of the word. No, the term "neighbor" represents more than physical proximity, it embodies a shared sense of togetherness despite, yet thriving on, our individual differences. A term, and message, at the heart of one of the world's most beloved neighbors, Mr. Rogers.
It's hard for me to appreciate the true extent of Mr. Rogers' national, perhaps global, reach. I always watched him on Channel 13 either right before or right after Sesame Street. As a kid, you don't have much geographic sense, but you can generally deduce that something like Sesame Street is mostly a conjured up physical pretext for an entertaining and educational program. There is no actual "Sesame Street" (although there is a kick-ass theme park, neat Philly I believe, called Sesame Place). You can also readily deduce that there isn't much benefit from searching for the Lost City of Atlantis or The Land of Make Believe, as magical and perfect both promise to be. But what got me was in not considering the possibility that Mr. Rogers Neighborhood was real and very close by. And, at times, only a stone's throw away.
Honestly, I've frequented several neighborhoods in my days, averaging a brisk 3.1 years at each primary residence (not counting college dorms). But it was my college years that brought me the closest, physically, to the red-sweatered icon. However, I never had the chance to actually meet the man. Rumors circulated about where he actually lived (an out-of-place affluent apartment building next to a college campus and park- I haven't confirmed this). And it was also clear where the television studio was located, the call-letters WQED modestly displayed outside what could have passed as a Frank Lloyd Wright-eqsue bomb shelter on Fifth Avenue in Oakland. This was only a short walk from the supposed apartment building, and both locations perfectly surrounded by universities, frisbee-friendly greenery, elegant churches and synagogues, and personal residences traceable to 20th century steel magnates.
But the message so warmly presented by Mr. Rogers to his faithful under-10 following was just one of the larger neighborly messages that could be observed in this hood. The station WQED, for instance, represented the very first community-sponsored station in the country. A result of the recognition of the area's leaders that in order to build a stronger community, positive messages needed to be initiated using the most popular evolving medium of the time: television. WQED also went on to produce several other locally and nationally-acclaimed programs, several of which were produced by America's second neighbor, Rick Sebak. A genuine, jovial fan and curator of everything Americana, from diners to amusement parks, to ice cream and Route 66, Rick Sebak shares a pleasant and contagious enthusiasm for everybody's story. As well as everybody's guilty dining pleasures. This I've actually had the fortune of witnessing in our once shared neighborhood coffee shop, Katerbean. (note, coffee shops and neighborhoods make for great Sebak specials and future Rooney articles).
Looking back at just this small sampling of friendly, community-driven outreach, I realize that I have been more than fortunate to classify these gentlemen, and institution, as my neighbors in the predominantly local sense. However, with no direct obligation of reciprocity, other than a profession to "be their neighbor", I conclude that fulfilling my neighborly duties is a little more involved than actually relocating. In fact, the term "neighbor" mostly applies when describing someone else, from the first-person point of view, but hardly one's self, from somebody else's shoes. To be a good neighbor, one has to step back and consider how they are viewed from the eyes of the folks next door. Or just give more than a second thought to the question of "Won't you be my neighbor?"
