Cider Press Hill

Gated

Today I had an opportunity to visit a gated community. The lad had a job interview at a country club (invitation only) that is nestled within the gated community. To enter one needs to stop at the guard house and state one’s business. The guard then calls ahead to inquire if the appointment is valid and to alert the party that the guest is on the way. The guard was very nice.

While the lad interviewed I drove around a bit to gawk. The houses are massive (though they all look alike) and most sit on plots overlooking the golf course. Golfers basically stand around in people’s back yards teeing off or putting. I’m not too sure I’d like that, but I suppose if the golfers are all neighbors or approved members, it’s not quite the same as the general public tromping around your back yard. After the golfers have teed off, they hop in their little carts and drive off to the next putt. Gazillions of little carts and not a soul walking around on the greens. The place seems to be designed with roads criss-crossing the golf course so that no one needs to walk. They just drive their carts to where ever the golf ball lands.

One thing I noticed was the trees. There are thousands of them in the community. Beautiful mature trees. And there are beautifully manicured gardens that run more or less in a contiguous line between and around the homes. Lots of hired gardeners in uniforms were tending them. And the homes are spaced several hundred feet apart. It looks like a paradise in there. So much shade and a peaceful atmosphere.

People at the country club, coming and going, were older. I saw no one younger than late 40s. The women all looked alike (blond hair caught up in their white golf visors) in khaki knee length shorts with white shirts and the men all wore khaki knee length shorts with a polo shirt. Mostly white ones. I wonder if there is a dress code.

I received a few questioning glances (I wasn’t attired for golf), but no one bothered me since no one gets in without approval. Several smiled and nodded at me. It was interesting to watch people. Interesting also that most of the cars in the parking lot were not what I’d have expected. Most were Nissans, Volvos, a couple of Fords, and three Toyota hybrids. Only one Porsche, no BMWs or Lexus or other high end vehicles. Almost all subcompact cars— there were only two small SUVs in the parking lot.

I dunno. Maybe this is the level of wealth where people don’t feel they need to impress anyone anymore.

The lad got the job, he starts on Monday. He’ll be kitchen help and says the crew is pretty cool. He was recommended for the job by a friend who also works there.

I readily admit that this is not a world that I am accustomed to moving around in, but the lad is. He moves easily between the two worlds and I suppose that may be an advantage, though he snarks about the whole gated business. I looked at all those houses and the uniformed worker bees, wondering why people need so much space and such exclusivity. Those houses were enormous (by anyone’s standards) and by the looks of the people at the country club, I’d guess that most of the residents don’t have children living at home anymore. Part of me says, yeah, I wouldn’t mind a house like that. The other part says, it’s a terrible waste of resources and the exclusivity seems kind of incestuous. I think I’d just plain feel guilty living in a place like that even if it is serene and beautiful. Gating one’s self away from ‘lesser’ people is an attitude I can’t accept. 

Posted on 07/28/06 at 05:10 PM
 




Linkmeister

I used to work here when I wasn’t at our home club in Honolulu here.

The one in Honolulu is a lot less moneyed than the one in California (just look at the sidebar of the Board of Governors there).  The funny thing was that very few of those people were ever there; they were talked into being on the Board so the mgmt could use the snob value as a membership selling point.

It’s an odd feeling wandering around the premises as an employee of an outfit trying to cater to the really wealthy.

United States   Posted by Linkmeister on 07/28/06  at  05:20 PM





cyn

The cars in the parking lot?? Belonged to the worker bees.  Everyone else either was chauffered there OR rode their golf courts over.  I betcha...... And besides which this heat is just murder on those fine finishes on the porsches, bmw’s. etc!! I am pretty sure I know where you were and yeah, it is a little overwhelming.  One much like it on the Cape we had the pleasure of visiting.  Nice place to visit.......would I want to live there?  Nah..... I am the world’s worst golfer and besides which, I could never be that quiet.  Am always all too ready to crack up over something.  LOL

United States   Posted by cyn on 07/28/06  at  05:37 PM





Kate

At least some of the cars belonged to the golfers. Several came zipping in with their golf carts, stopping to drop off their golf clubs at one car, then stopping at another to drop off their partner’s golf clubs before whooshing off to the club house. You think they’d *walk* from their houses to the club house? Walking doesn’t appear to be a popular sport there. But, of course, today was hotter than blazes with sopping humidity, so who could blame anyone for not wanting to move much. They probably deserve some credit for even swinging a golf club on a day like this.

Linkmeister, it felt weird wandering around as *not* an employee of an outfit definitely catering to the really wealthy. It was a very strange feeling.

United States   Posted by Kate on 07/28/06  at  06:18 PM





pablo

Maybe I missed something, but why is the Lad getting a job? Isn’t he leaving for college in a couple of weeks? (My son doesn’t want to give up the “last summer of his life” by getting a job, but he won’t even be going to med school until fall of 2007!)

I think gated communities are symptomatic of some of what is wrong with our society. The more one can separate himself from others, the less he will understand them and feel any kind of empathy for them. And thus he can begin to treat them differently from someone he knows by first name and looks in the eye every day.

(Of course, I want to move out to my woods and hide from the world, so I may not be much different.)

United States   Posted by pablo on 07/30/06  at  06:14 AM





Steve

>>Only one Porsche, no BMWs or Lexus or other high end vehicles. >>

Or might that be Lexi? One wonders…

United States   Posted by Steve on 07/30/06  at  04:16 PM





Kate

LOL! Well I thought about that. Lexuxes? Lexi? Still being pretty much Nyquilled to the gills, I admit I was just not curious enough to go hunting around for the proper plural. I felt there was victory enough in just being able to spell Lexus. ;)

Pablo, there was a certain amount of pressure being applied to find a job from the paternal unit. Idleness being the playground of miscreants, and all. Probably won’t hurt the lad, but since he sort of feels as if this is his “last summer to live” he wasn’t too thrilled with the idea.

I agree, the entire concept of gated communities is keeping ‘the other’ removed from one’s world. It surely does nothing to foster understanding or even compassion.

Moving out into the woods is a whole different ballgame than locking yourself behind a guard station, where all your wants and needs are met by uniformed personnel. You will be actively involved with land stewardship. That keeps a person a bit on the humble side, don’t you think? Nature is a great equalizer if you are intimately involved with it. Being covered with sweat and grime, and maybe chigger bites, doesn’t tend to make one feel socially elevated above the rest of humanity.

United States   Posted by Kate on 07/30/06  at  05:04 PM





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