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may also explain another word that I've seen used a lot lately: "Community." I've always thought of a "community" as the neighbourhood where I live but it seems I'm too parochial. If you look carefully, you discover that every human activity has created its own "community."

Not long ago, a friend was leaving her job at Second City and moving to New York to work in public relations. She told me that she while she was looking forward to living in Manhattan, she would miss the "comedy community." The what? Where is the comedy community? Is it downtown or somewhere out in the vast, sprawling reaches of the 905 area code? Are all of the neighbours funny? Some of mine are a bit dour, so I might want to move to the comedy community if I could just find it on a map.

No one has a job or career anymore, merely working at a company: They belong to a "community."

A lawyer friend speaks of being in the "legal community." A gallery owner talked about the "artist community" on Bravo! a few weeks ago. I've heard other people refer to the "writer's community," a "high tech community," the "entertainment community" which, by the way, is so large it has subdivisions such as the "movie community," the "music community" and so on. When Toronto was searching for a new police chief, a member of the Police Services Board told a reporter the choice would be someone who'd mesh well with the "police community." I gave a speech recently to a group that described itself as part of the "advertising community." Silly me, I walked into the room thinking I was going to address a marketing group.

What's next? A "cross-community community's experience?"

What is it like to be part of these "communities"? Do members invite each other over to help paint the front porch? May people from one community mix socially with people from another? Do they have special soccer teams for their kids? Could I address mail to somebody by just putting their name and "Wretched Community" on the letter? Do they have special clothes to wear, or rules to follow?

I wonder if I am part of a "community" and don't know it. I certainly would never knowingly join a "community;" it sounds much too post-modern. I'm far more content being part of the "community experience" where I live, even if there are a few dour neighbours.

Learn more about this author, Charley James.
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