I’d like to suggest that, if you have some time and you’re bored, weather-weary, or interested in beng entertained for free, you go to a local civil business meeting; a session of court, or a meeting of government legislatures (town, city, village, school board, etc.). It’s a fascinating live-action choreographed play of official customs put on periodically to run the business of a court, school district, town, or village. It’s ceremony and improvisation. It’s ritual and interpretative.
And it’s all free and open to the public. You already bought a ticket with your tax dollars; you are one of the producers. These meetings and proceedings are all, on some level, vastly entertaining with the side attraction of being informative.
You just have to leave your firearms at the door.
If it helps, don’t look at it as an act of civic duty, though that’s not a bad excuse and after-the-fact benefit, but rather as a venue of entertainment, like a movie theater or improv stage, watching a documentary before it’s made, or a live sporting event. There’s a composition that reminds you of a ballgame -pick the sport- a schematic to focus the action. There are rules and decorum and process, players you root for, villains you hope strike out, officials and umpires who move the game along, call fouls, mediate the action, time-outs, coaching (mostly by attorneys), rosters of players to follow. Rookies navigate the proceedings with caution and reverence, or false bravado and arrogance. The seasoned veterans perform with nonchalance and forbearance. These events, which you can find scheduled in your local newspaper, really can be compelling spectator sport.
Your local government, performing in real time, is the heart of Americana at work, law, and decorum and ritual and Robert’s Rules in action. It’s so much more relevant and immediate than national politics, the decisions made have a much more direct effect on your life (your tax bill, for instance). You can follow along a posted itinerary, like a theatrical production, or a religious service, but you won’t know what’s going to happen until it does. There will be some drama, maybe passion, maybe anger, maybe rebellion. Feelings will be hurt, egos salved, there will be compromise and judgement, agreement, and most importantly, discourse.
As an impartial spectator your presence won’t be entirely anonymous; you will be noticed. The looks on the faces of the presiding establishment (a board or a court) will be worth the trip. These “officials” don’t typically perform in front of a live studio audience, they tend to like their vacuums, and when they do have an audience, it’s usually filled with familiar faces. I’m not saying they have anything to hide (necessarily), the press usually covers their meetings thoroughly, and the minutes are FOIL-able public knowledge. I am saying that with you there, they’ll sit up a little straighter, keep their eyes open longer, pay more attention. I don’t blame them; nobody running a meeting where they are held accountable for the daily lives of its constituents likes to be surprised or blindsided by an issue, a train they didn’t see coming. They prefer things to go along their predicated schedule, to control the narrative.
Board member: Why are you here?
You: I’m here for the show.
Board member (pauses, scratches head): But why?
Something unexpected and off-script will happen, that is almost certain. Sometimes you have to wait, like a baseball game where batter after batter goes to the plate, and suddenly one smashes a ball into your lap. But somebody will say or do something that will surprise you. A decision will be made that you applaud or boo.
You will be entertained!
To review, going to a meeting of your local governing boards or court;
Upside: free, entertaining, and informative.
Downside: no concession stand.
Bill Burk's collective writing...and some other stuff. 