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John and I visited the coffee one Saturday and sat down with his cousins. Keep in mind that in small towns, that word has a broader definition. Jim is actually John’s mother’s first cousin, and Donna is his wife. But we just call them cousins—it’s so much easier.
Jim used a phrase I’d never heard, the Pretzel Palace. “What in the world is that?” Jim laughed. “Oh, it refers to the family ties and the friendships that are woven into communities.”
I decided that phrase would make a great article. Oh, this will be so easy, and so much fun! Ha!
I Googled and Binged and Duck Duck Go’d (Duck Duck Went?) until my fingertips hurt. I couldn’t find the phrase in any search browser, no matter how I spelled it or typed it. Jim insists it’s an actual phrase, commonly used in this country. Maybe it’s on the dark web? Here’s my stab at it.
If you look at a pretzel, you’ll see that it starts as a long piece of dough. The baker takes the two ends, winds them around each other once, then places each end against the edges. One popular legend suggests that a monk created the pretzel to represent arms crossed over one’s chest in prayer. Others say that pretzels evolved from early Catholics needing simple foods for sustenance during Lent, with the three holes in the pretzel representing the three parts of the Holy Trinity. Regardless, the snack’s twisty shape is associated with knots and good fortune.
When I look at a pretzel, I see something that is separate on the edges but touching in some places and completely interconnected in others. That’s just like a small town! We all have separate parts of our lives, pieces that are not connected at all to our community. Then we have parts that touch other people, like churches and clubs and social groups. That leaves the completely interconnected portions, the pieces of our lives we bring others into more deeply. Good friends and close family members who share our more personal moments. Is that just a part of small towns? And is that why people fall in love with the idea of small-town life?
The image of “small-town” America has been romanticized over the years. Relators talk about the small-town feel when selling a home. Many communities brag about their small-town vibe. One study reported 80 percent of respondents as saying the number one goal of their city should be to “preserve the small-town feel.”
The phrase “small-town feel” evokes a quiet, laid-back lifestyle in a close-knit community where people know each other, can re
ly on each other, and where people are connected. And that happens only when we take the time to get to know people and forge relationships.
Being neighborly is a lost art in America. In the 1970s, according to the Pew Research Center, more than 60 percent of people socialized with their neighbors at least monthly. Today, that number has shrunk to 25 percent or less. A third of Americans don’t interact with their neighbors, and half of us cannot name a person who share our buildings and blocks.
Big city life has a lot of “more”—more jobs, more shopping, more choices. But small-town has more too, just a different kind. We have more connections, more closeness, more reliability. Welcome to the Pretzel Palace, where the people are warm, a little salty, and connected.
Jann Goar Franklin graduated Russellville High School in 1989. You can reach her at jann@jannfranklin.com