The People Make the Place

This morning over coffee, I read an interesting article in The American Conservative by Kurt Hofer; "Caught Inside" 25 Years Later" which related his life-long experience with the LA West Coast surfing culture. I found it to be profound, though I wondered how many readers would understand what he was talking about if they have no experience with beach life. Back in 1987, my colleague Prof. Ben Schneider at the University of Maryland wrote a journal article in Personnel Psychology about the influence of organizational climates and cultures on things like job satisfaction and worker productivity. It became an instant classic; "The People Make the Place."

Reading Ben's article rang like truth. It was not so much my observations of West Coast life having lived there 3 times, but its influence on me. It had been just 2 years since I had been transferred from "Surf City" (San Diego), back to DC. Pacific Beach and La Jolla were full of surfers, many of whom had crash pads near the beach. Pacific Beach (PB) especially seemed to be infested with slackers - surf bums with menial jobs who lived to surf. PB was upper middle-class except for the surf bums, whereas La Jolla was very upper-class. Yet both towns tolerated the infestation of people who could not afford the luxurious homes and condos with killer views of the ocean. You might have wondered why the surf riff-raff had not been expelled long ago. However, as all beach communities can attest; the people make the place. What would life be like on the beach without surfers?

When I first moved to my upscale Woodley Park condo in DC back in 1985, I would enter the elevator and instantly greet fellow riders. "Hi there. Nice day, eh?" "You get caught in the rain today?" things like that. To my dismay, most people fixed their gaze on the floor and seldom even acknowledged my presence with a polite smile. It was like they were thinking, "I can endure this clown for a couple of floors." I thought to myself that nobody in Surf City would act like this. What is wrong with these people? It was clearly culture-clash.

I did not let my sour-puss neighbors discourage my affable civilities, and continued to chat up fellow elevator passengers month after month. Over several years, the elevator climate and the entire building's community culture began to get friendlier. People who got on the elevator after me were starting to greet fellow passengers. Had I changed "the place" with my Surf City demeanor? One evening, I greeted the late White House reporter, Helen Thomas, as she boarded the elevator. To my astonishment, she looked up at me and reciprocated. Helen never spoke to any neighbor. There was my proof! Over the years, Hellen and I actually became chummy.

There is something about surfer slackers that continue to make beach living idyllic. That probably explains why Ben retired to La Jolla, and I retired to Indian Harbour Beach on the Central Florida East Coast. The people do make the place.