Some of my high school buddies and I had a short email exchange about music and I mentioned that I feed my eclectic tastes with Spotify. One of the guys mentioned that the service is worth the price – equal to about one music CD per month – even if the quality of the sound is not as good as CDs or albums. I replied that I use the free service and deal with the commercials like we had to in the old days of listening to the radio in cars.  And that got me to thinking.

I’m a fan of the book Bowling Alone by Robert D. Putnam. Written almost a quarter-century ago, it describes the loss of social capital in society, that is, the connections that make the fabric of a strong society. He foretold what society’s troubles might be if the trend was not stopped. I think he would take no pride in being able to say, “I told you so.”  I think often about the type of connections he described that were lived out in bowling leagues, church groups, book clubs, service organizations, etc. So what does this book and its premise have to do with listening to music?

For all the connectivity through technology that we have now, we seem to be more disconnected than ever to our fellow citizens. I know, not an original thought, but even miniscule connectors have been destroyed. Some of these made us smile, prompted us to engage others and inspired us to be more observant of others. That’s where the radio comes in.

In the old days it was possible, and often likely, that you would see someone in a car near you who was listening to the same radio channel and was singing to the same song you were singing to, or keeping beat on their steering wheel the way you were, or laughing at the DJ’s jokes like you were. In moments at stop signs, traffic lights or simply by noticing people in cars around you, you felt connected, related and, for a moment, kindred.  It was cause for smile and acknowledgement when people noticed each other in moments like that. Those moments removed the inherent isolation of being in different vehicles, going different places in life.

Sadly, a lot of the people reading this have no idea how that felt.  How could it be possible nowadays for two people in cars next to each other at a traffic light to be singing the same song? More sadly, that is literal or figurative. 

The Bowling Alone website has a subtitle that is a blend of sobering truth and hope: “The Collapse and Revival of American Community.”  The book details a variety of solutions, including many great things a new technology of the time – social media – could accomplish to revive community. Instead of using the author’s suggestions, social media went quite the opposite direction and has added to the problems.

It is up to us, individually and small-group collectively, to connect, to relish the moments, even the short ones, when we feel the sense of connection to others. We likely won’t encounter someone listening to the same song in their vehicle that we are listening to, but there are other ways to break down the barriers and connect for a moment. Holding the door for someone, saying hello to folks while taking a walk, waving to passersby, smiling at the person in line next to you at the store.  The list is long, but time is short.

The lesson of old-days radio reveals the wisdom and the gift of simple connections with others.