In The City of Polis

The city of Polis is located near the mythical city of Cray. Polis has a population that shouts diversity and claims to be one of the safest cities in the country. It is a small city of less than 20,000, and some refer to it as a village because of its small size compared to the city of Cray. The beauty of its colorful row houses, red, yellow, green, and blue, bring a smile to your face and a feeling of happy contentment. Polis is nuzzled along a tree-lined winding river, and the city has been called the string of pearls.   Viewing Polis is like watching the doe drinking at the river on a sunset-drenched evening; it is an event for newcomers.

Her population matches the beauty of Polis. The people of Polis are known for being educated, compassionate, and generous. All seemed well in Polis until a new idea was revealed to the city council one day. Polis, being near a river, has crossways everywhere. The crossways had been newly painted with the word Crosswalk stenciled across the road. Before this, the only identifier was the two parallel lines marking a place for pedestrians to cross. There was no preferred method of moving through the crossway painted on the road.

The new crosswalks caught the inhabitants by surprise, and it stirred no small argument. Residents aired many arguments and reasons to be against the crosswalk. City Council held a special meeting to discuss the concern of the citizenry. The room seated around 250 and was packed with people even outside in the passageway. (No council meeting had been this packed since Johnny Carstone got his head stuck in the iron fence at the Lutheran church on Pouthena Street.) The senior council member led the people in a pledge to the city of Polis and a moment of silence that was filled with whispers, sniffles, and coughs. 

The crowd was a bit chippy and passionate. I am not sure I heard all of the protests against the term crosswalk, but I can give you a sampling.

• The crossings have always been crossways; why in the world do you want to place an identifier of how one must move through the crossway with the word Walk?
• There are people who can’t walk, and this is discriminatory, mean-spirited, and, dare I say, Nazi-like.  People who can’t walk are forced to violate the law or become a laughingstock by rolling through the crossway. 
• Yes, another chimed in, think of the people who like jogging or even skipping. We do have skippers in our town, and I know they aren’t popular, but I will fight for their right to skip across your so-called crosswalk.
• Skippers, peepers, I like the word crosswalk, and the skippers can go back where they came from.
• A well-known business skipper took the floor and spent thirty minutes extolling the practice of skipping and its health benefits. She then said we need to go back to the crossway; it implies I may cross the street in my way and with my truth.
• One person suggested going back to not having any marking except the stripes on the road. He was soon shouted down by being called ignorant, anchored in the past, the old generation, and the ones we need to see gone.
• Various other complaints were raised, and the council dismissed the meeting without a solution.

This contention only grew. The town had divided into three groups:  the ones who were pro-crosswalk, the ones who were anti-crosswalk, and the vast majority of the population who didn’t care one way or another. We know what a crossway or crosswalk is for, and it doesn’t need much attention. Come on, Man—just cross the road.

The city began to change, and the protests became violent. Soon Polis was so divided that the city split. A new city emerged from the split and was called Polisway.  Most of the population still didn’t care one way or another but was forced into silence for fear of the pro and anti-walk crowds. 

A decade after that council meeting, the population of Polis and Polisway combined is 20,000, down from 50,000. Most of the people moved to Cray or other cities near their jobs. Polis and Polisway are no longer safe, and many of the inhabitants won’t go out at night. People who live in Polis are hated by those in Polisway and vice versa.

The revenue of Polis and Polisway is down dramatically, and the schools, safety services, mental health centers, and senior centers are all suffering. Visitors rarely come to the Polis area now, and the paint on the row houses is peeling. Even the winding river seems to be choking the city like a rope rather than beautifying it like a string of pearls.

I asked one who lived in Polisway how he felt about the changes in the past ten years. He looked up and then looked down over his glasses:  Sir, it was all worth it. Our crossings are crossways, and we have the freedom to walk, roll, run, jog, and even skip across the road. Of course, we usually cross anywhere we want now, there is hardly any traffic.

As I walked away, I thought, why don’t the people see what they have done? Then I remembered: Pride is their necklace, Psalm 73:6.

Dr. James D. Allen

©2022 by James D. Allen

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Some translations:

Polis— means City in Greek

Cray—slang for crazy

Pouthena—Nowhere, Greek