Melissa Adams

Cohort 2- Inquiry 2

The Philo Tavern is nestled in the heart of the small farming town of Philo, Illinois. The

tavern is the only restaurant in Philo and is a local hot spot. When I was interviewing people

around Philo for my community inquiry, the bartender at the Tavern informed me that the Tavern

serves coffee every morning and is the breeding ground for all local farmers before they hit the

field. For my border crossing, I chose to show up for the morning routine at the Tavern. Each

morning around 5:30 the man who lives behind the Tavern unlocks the doors and starts the

coffee. From then until around 8 people are filing in to get a cup of coffee and socialize. No one

works the bar at the time and everyone is just welcome to come in get some coffee and is

encouraged to put a tip on the bar. When I got there one morning I walked in and sat at a table by

myself, started taking in the scene and writing notes. As I sat there people would walk by and say

good morning like it wasn’t unusual to see me sitting there. After about 10 minutes an older

gentleman, Al, came up and started talking to me. He introduced himself and told me a little

about his life before he asked about me. I told him about my projects and he was willing to give

me any information or answer any questions I had. We got a cup of coffee and he began telling

me about the people in the Tavern, farming, the town, and introduced me to people who stopped

to say hi. Going into the Tavern that morning, I felt very nervous and scared. I was worried I

was going to be stared at and whispered about because I was an outsider. I thought I was going

to be sitting in a corner by myself feeling very awkward because everyone knew everyone else

and wouldn’t talk to or pay attention to the stranger in the corner. Philo is such a small town and

knowing about the morning coffee at the Tavern is probably something only people from the

town know about. Walking in not from the town or close to the age of people in there was very
hard for me because I initially thought I was going to be judged or looked at funny because I was

there. What surprised me was how open and welcoming everyone was. Even before Al came to

sit with me, people would still walk in and say hello like I wasn’t a stranger. They didn’t look at

me funny or puzzled that I was there; it was like I was supposed to be there. It also surprised me

how honest and trusting of a community it is; that the Tavern can be open for people to just come

in and take coffee without having to worry about someone trying to steal alcohol or the money

on the counter. I don’t know what it’s like to be in an environment where everyone is so trusting

and open like that so that was really great for me to be a part of. I knew going in that Philo was a

good friendly farm town but I never expected the welcome or respect that I got. I never would

have expected an older farmer to come up and start talking with a college student who wasn’t

from the area. I didn’t expect him to offer me his life story or to answer any of my questions

without me asking him first. I didn’t expect for a group of strangers in a small close knit town to

be so accepting and welcoming of an outsider who wasn’t familiar with the small town farming

life. If I never move out of my comfort zone I would never learn about new people and cultures.

I would never get to experience new things or see new ways of life. I feel that if you don’t take

the risk of moving out of your comfort zone you lose the educational experience that you gain

from doing so. You can only read so much in books but to live and get to see different walks of

life first hand is a totally different thing. There of course are risks to moving out of your comfort

zone, one is offending people. If you do not follow procedure or do things properly people will

view that as a lack of respect for them or their culture and it will give them a negative image of

you. There is also the risk of saying something wrong or going into a dangerous situation when

you go out of your comfort zone, especially if you don’t know the area or have someone there

with you. I feel like I cross borders multiple times in a day. I interact and am surrounded by
people of different social classes, race, cultures, morals, religions every day. I don’t think you

have to look or go hunt for opportunities to cross borders any more in our society because there

is so much variety and diversity.

I think people create borders because they are scared or unsure about change or

differences. Creating a border keeps that group safe or comfortable and away from judgment or

ridicule by others. It keeps them from having to deal with what others think or say about them or

their beliefs. I think people also use borders to hide from the ever changing world and the

differences we have. I also feel that some borders have been around for years and people don’t

want to change them because they have been there for forever but they are unsure why they have

the borders in the first place. People aren’t accepting of change or difference a lot of times and I

think that is a big reason we have so many borders and why so many are still intact. Society has

created some of these borders that we have no real explanation for why they still exist. We have

social borders, class borders, racial borders, and cultural borders because the greater society is

not accepting of the way they do things or what they believe in. Society has labeled them as

different for not following the norm instead of embracing the history or culture they have to

offer. I believe the only way for everyone to understand each other is to lower or eliminate the

borders, to see everyone as human and equal and to accept everything different or unique. I think

if we all took the time to cross borders on purpose to learn about each other and show an interest

in each other we could live in a society without borders where everyone is accepted. I think this

idea is a key component of why teachers need to cross borders. They need to know all about their

students to better accept them and understand them. It brings the classroom into a happy

community environment where everyone is accepting of everyone else and there are no

differences or borders. If you know where a student comes from you can relate to them on a
more personal level to better help them succeed in the classroom. It also gives them of an

example of someone who is willing to learn about other cultures or ways of life which will in

turn cause them to do the same thing in their life.