Grand Central Station
When I was a kid, my parents would sometimes say something like, “Things have got to calm down, it’s like Grand Central Station in this house. Or, mom would say on the phone, “I don’t know where anyone is today, it’s been like Grand Central Station around here.”
I think a lot of people use metaphorical references to Grand Central Station when talking about a busy place or a place with huge numbers of people coming and going. I remember years ago when there was a chain of department stores in Utah called Grand Central.
I thought of these references while standing in what is officially called Grand Central Terminal in New York City as part of a Thanksgiving trip last month. My daughter and her husband, and their three daughters, had invited us to go with them on a trip to Switzerland and Germany.
Since we had a long layover through the day on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, we had ridden the train into Grand Central from JFK Airport for some New York sightseeing. We caught a “red-eye” flight to Zurich late that night.
Here’s what the interesting thing was to me that I noticed while standing in the main, historic, cavernous, 35,000 square foot concourse of the station. At that particular time on that particular Saturday morning, there really wasn’t all that many people there.
I didn’t try to count the people in Grand Central, but my best rough guess would be, maybe 387 to 423. (It almost felt like there were as many people in McDonald’s nearby on 42nd St. an hour later. There are more than 70 McDonald’s restaurants in Manhattan alone)
Our visit to Grand Central was nice. I felt lucky. We leisurely took pictures. I’ve been there before with much bigger crowds and hustle and bustle. It didn’t feel as comfortable then. (On average, Grand Central Station has about 10,000 tourists per day in addition to huge numbers of train and subway passengers.)
All this lead-up stuff about Grand Central Station has a point. As you know, I sometimes have a hard time getting to the point. And even though this particular visit to Grand Central Station doesn’t really make my point in actuality, it does metaphorically.
Other portions of my trip do make my point. The streets of Manhattan we walked were loaded with people. The train stations and city streets of Europe were full of people.
So, here is my very, very obvious point. It’s a two-part thing. No. 1: There are a lot of people in the world! No. 2: And every one of them has a story.
Several times during the trip we reminded each other of these two obvious facts. My father-in-law used to often say while driving on the freeway. “Where did all these people come from and where the hell are they going?”
As of Sept. 26, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the world population at 8 billion people. There are higher estimates out there.
Speaking of McDonald’s, the signs on some of their restaurants read “Billions and Billions Served.” That doesn’t sound so far-fetched anymore. (Especially when I’m waiting in line for my Egg McMuffin)
Regular readers of “Inside Sanpete” know that I like to play with numbers occasionally. I’m not a mathematician, as all my past school teachers could verify, but on a good day I can add, subtract, multiply and divide.
The way I figure it, using the round number estimate of 30,000 residents in the county and the round number of 8 billion people on the planet; one out of every 266,666 people on the earth are Sanpeters.
When I checked just now, the current population of the U.S.A. is more than 334 million. So, I calculate that one out of every 11,133 Americans are Sanpeters.
This might make a Sanpete resident feel like a “spit in the ocean.” The insignificance factor sets in a little bit if you sit and ponder it too much. The Pink Floyd song “Just Another Brick in the Wall” comes to mind.
However, when I think about it from a different angle, I believe that Sanpeters should feel a high degree of significance in their lives. Regardless of the size of the world population, Sanpeters have the advantage of populating the small population which comprises “the world of Sanpete.” In a significant way, less becomes more – if you catch my drift.
Because of our small numbers, we mean a lot to each other. Ironically, being “small” can be “huge” when it comes to feeling like we have a place in the world that means something.
Sanpete pulls together to keep “Sanpete” Sanpete, if that makes sense. Each one of us is important as a component part of Sanpete society as a whole. The Sanpete County Fair, the annual Search & Rescue Fundraiser, the Rat Fink Reunion, and Snow College events are examples of what I’m talking about.
And now, as we get into the full swing of the Christmas season, I would make the case we each have “huge individual impact” in our “small world of Sanpete.” We need to be involved in treating each other as the unique people that we are. Each of us is more than a “drop in the bucket” or a “spit in the ocean.”
Every person in the “Grand Central Station” of Sanpete has a story and is worthy of being noticed, heard and cared for. It’s the time of year that many people try harder to practice “peace on earth, good will toward man.”
Let’s try together here in Sanpete to get past the big numbers of people and get involved in the small numbers of individuals in our families and neighborhoods. Each person has needs and a story worth hearing. What do you think? — Merrill