Life in the fast lane

I was reading Ari Herzog's most recent post about speeding on his blog and it brought so many other issues to mind.

The most important, I think is this: there is a lack of community in the world today.

I was driving down Merrimac St. one day with this young woman in an SUV on my tail. I'm not sure the SUV part (or even the young woman part) is relevant, but whatever.

We both got on Rte. 1, south, and she finally got her chance to speed by me - only to find herself stopped at the same right light as was I moments later, at Low St. When she got the green light to turn left, she sped up Pond St. (?) like a bat out of hell.

I would venture to say that, mostly, people who have roots here don't want to run down their fellow citizens. Time was, I would also venture to say, that everyone pretty much knew everyone else so it was a pretty safe assumption that whatever neighborhood you were driving through, you probably knew at least 2 families living there.

Nowadays you have impersonal highways, people driving significant distances to work, and a general lack of courtesy, or attention.

Although I do notice some sort of "community," in that other people driving VWs seem to grant me courtesy because of my Jetta. I don't do this specifically, because I usually always let someone in, no matter what car they are driving.

So ... does this mean there is a general hankering for some sort of community, even if it's only between people who drive the same car? Or went to the same college/university?

Why should I contact fellow alumni of my university for a job? Why can't someone who did not go to the same school as me give me a job?

There is a definite disconnect here, I think. Not here, in Newburyport, but in this situation. But in today's world, with all the factors involved, has community in the place where you live gone out the door?