Where Everybody Knows Your Name

What a great night we had last night!  Yesterday evening, the Carpenter Street Saloon in St, Michaels, Maryland held a book launch party for my latest mystery, Picture Me.  What a success it was!  We had non-stop action for the entire two hours, and I sold an entire case of my new book plus several copies of my previously published works.  How blessed I am to live in such a great community!  And that has me thinking about how wonderful it is here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Remember the old Cheers theme song?

Sometimes you want to go

 Where everybody knows your name,

And they’re always glad you came;

You want to be where you can see,

Our troubles are all the same;

You want to be where everybody knows your name.

That’s what it’s like living here on the Shore, and while there are times when everyone knows everybody else’s business, I’ve decided that can be a good thing.  When somebody has something to celebrate, their neighbors are there with bells on.  When the community is stricken with grief, somebody always shows up with a pie, or a cake, or a casserole… whatever is needed to help with the situation.  The point is, we always have somebody to lean on, somebody to care for us, and somebody to help out when needed.

Having never lived in the city, I can’t speak for everyone, but I have a very strong feeling that things are just different when people are living high in their glass towers without the time or the desire to look out the window and see what’s going on in the world around them.  Whenever I’m in DC or NYC, I can’t help but notice that everyone is always looking down – at their phone or their newspaper or just their shoes.  There aren’t friendly smiles and waves to those they pass (my hand gets tired just driving down my street from all of the waves back and forth between myself and other drivers – even if we don’t know each other).  There just seems to be a disconnect between everyone in the city that you don’t find in small towns.

So those in the big cities can keep their flats and ritzy restaurants and high class stores.  I’ll take my favorite little shop, the Preppy Redneck, and the Carpenter Street Saloon any day.  And the next time I’m walking down the street, I’ll smile and wave and say hello to everyone.  That’s what we do here where everybody knows your name.

Amy Schisler is the author of two mystery / suspense novels. Her first book, A Place to Call Home is in its second printing and may be purchased in stores, online, and through ibooks. Amy’s next mystery, Picture Me, was released in August of 2015 and is available in stores and online.  Her previously published children’s book, Crabbing With Granddad may be purchased in stores and on Amazon.

You may follow Amy at http://facebook.com/amyschislerauthor on Twitter @AmySchislerAuth and on her web site http://amyschislerauthor.com