Building social capital usually a worthwhile investment

By Heather Warlick

Published: May 15, 2008

When you arrive home after a day at work and notice your neighbors in their flower bed planting new blooms, you:

•A. Take a moment to stop by and visit with them before you head inside.

•B. Give a terse wave, grab your mail and get inside.

•C. Head straight inside and decide to get the mail later.

If you answered B or C, you are not alone. In his book "Bowling Alone,” Robert Putnam sheds light on the increasing trend of Americans withdrawing socially from one another. After conducting a half-million interviews over the past 25 years, Putnam draws the conclusions that Americans are signing fewer petitions, joining fewer organizations, spending less time with friends and family, and meeting fewer neighbors.

More people are bowling, he explains, but fewer are joining leagues and bowling together. Putnam's point is that Americans need to regain some of the "social capital” they have lost during the past quarter-century. "Better Together” is a book he co-authored with Lewis Feldstein about ending the atrophy of civic vitality.

Here are some fun facts from www.bowlingalone.com:

•Joining and participating in one group cuts in half your odds of dying next year.

•Every 10 minutes of commuting reduces all forms of social capital by 10 percent.

•Watching commercial entertainment TV is the only leisure activity where doing more of it is associated with lower social capital.

So, I would like to advance my idea for helping increase social capital by bringing neighbors closer together: the Flamingo Party.

I can't remember when I first heard of the Flamingo Party idea, but it always stuck in my mind. Last year, I decided to try it out with my new neighbors. It turned out to be a great success and one that the neighbors carried on even after I moved!

The Flamingo Party is a monthly dinner party that consists of several neighboring families who are all in the "Flamingo Club.” It is a wonderfully fun and silly way to get to know each other, share great recipes and foster that important social network that seems to be lacking in many areas of society. By getting to know the people living around you, you also build a more secure and safe neighborhood.

The first step is to buy one of those kitschy pink plastic yard flamingos.

You can find them at www.plastic-flamingos.com.

Stick the flamingo in your front yard. Every month, that flamingo will travel from yard to yard; wherever it lands is where the party is.

Each family brings a side dish or beverage to the dinner party, but the host family provides the main dish.

With my Flamingo Club, we scheduled our dinner parties for the first Sunday each month. We chose themes for each dinner. The month I vacationed to Manhattan, N.Y., we had a Big Apple Flamingo Party with New York strip steaks, Shirley Temples and Manhattans to drink, and a delicious "Big Apple salad.” In November, we had a Thanksgiving theme party because the hosts loved Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings. And for Christmas, we had a big Flamingo Christmas Party complete with a festive round of "Dirty Santa.”

One Flamingo Club neighbor loves photography, so he takes lots of fun party pictures and posts them on a Flamingo Party Web site.

Yours doesn't have to be a Flamingo Party. It could be a Squirrel Party or a Garden Gnome Party or whatever cute lawn ornament you choose.

The point is to gather with those people with whom you live in such close proximity.

Even if you don't go all out and start a Flamingo Club, you can get to know your neighbors with a street party, a driveway cocktail party or just a simple dinner with your immediate neighbors.

Worst-case scenario: Your neighbors are weirdos, and now you know it.

Best-case scenario: You make some great new friends and create a closer-knit community.

Comments