Facebook’s All Things Plymouth page can feel more like a toxic waste site than community gathering place. With a purported 150,000 “members” – exceeding by two times the total of every adult and child in town – it’s often a steaming caldron of bad grammar stirring hate, ignorance, and racism.
But last week’s crippling blizzard showed ATP and social media platforms like it can serve a productive purpose during times of crisis.
Yes, rumors still circulated. Facts were embellished. Lies were amplified. Some people posed inane questions – “where can I get my Dunks?” Others whined about slow DoorDash deliveries and exhausted Eversource workers taking a break. Meantime, posters with phony names peppered the page with missives solely targeted to provoke. The usual slop.
But beyond the basement-dwelling dummies, chatbots, and trolls, there was evidence ATP may not indicate the end times are upon us. There was – gasp – a level of compassion on display.
People needing help used the page to connect with those who might be able to provide it. They commiserated and consoled. They passed on tidbits about power outage updates and unplowed streets. They offered tips on keeping the indoor temperature from plunging. (Boiling water on a gas stovetop was a popular one.) They helped reunite wandering pets with their human companions. They offered to shovel out people physically unable to do so. They thanked sleep-deprived plow operators instead of blaming them for the town’s depleted resources.
“Be patient with the town workers,” one wrote in response to this February 28 Independent story. “They’re out today pushing the mounds back and widening the streets.”
“Hats off…to the front-end loader operator that widened the Martingale neighborhood,” read another post. “He did a great job not blocking driveways or mailboxes.”
Multiple exchanges were about navigating narrowed roads.
“Does anyone know if Old Sandwich Rd from Clifford down toward Sacrifice Rock Rd headed into the Pine Hills has been widened?” a poster asked on Monday.
The response: “It’s passable with patience Give yourself some extra time and go slow or stop and wait till clear to go around the icy parts, they are very bumpy.”
This inquiry quickly brought offers of assistance:
“Anyone know of any plows available for one pass tonight? We haven’t been able to reach ours, and I’m pregnant and hoping to get out to a relative’s house that has power. Any recommendations would be really appreciated.”
More than a few posts were about solving problems with finicky generators. One told an especially uplifting story.
“My 8-month-old grandson recently came home from the NICU with a tracheostomy and on a vent 24/7. We went [and] purchased a generator in the event we lost power as we needed to be sure we could power all his equipment. Unfortunately, we had never used a generator before and were starting to get low on fuel for it. While we were shoveling the driveway so we could get out, the woman across the street dropped what she was doing and started to help us get out. She then quickly realized this was going to take forever and proceeded to recruit other neighbors to assist with the efforts. Soon we had several of our neighbors with snowblowers in our driveway and working hard to be sure we could get to a gas station. We don’t know what we would have done without these kind neighbors that gave up everything they needed to do for themselves to be sure my grandson was safe!!”
Someone with a sharp eye found a car key fob in the snow near Town Hall and turned it in.
“Near them there was a fresh envelope with a birth certificate in it for Emily,” they wrote. “If you lost either one of those, we dropped them off at Town Hall.”
And there was this urgent plea from a stranded resident: “I’m looking to find someone who can help me. I’m snowed in. I live in Pinehurst Village. They have not plowed my back of my house…I have COPD and my husband has Parkinson’s. Any suggestions who to call for help. We need to get out.”
“I have no problem walking through snow in your driveway to give you some food,” someone responded.
There are dozens of other examples of people acting neighborly during and after the storm. But like the ever-changing New England weather, ATP veers from one topic of the moment to another. By Monday afternoon, civility was melting like the snow in recent days.
Oh, well. Maybe my flurry of optimism was nothing more than a blizzard-induced fever dream. I’ll let you know after the next 100-year storm.
Mark Pothier can be reached at mark@plymouthindependent.org.