Day 351
16 hrs, 34 .6 kms

Windber has a population of little over 3,000, but it still has the air of a "city". A mining center, it was here where miners managed to stage as major strike as they demanded that their union be recognized. As a result, their families were evicted from company housing--however this did bring national attention to the deplorable conditions miners worked in.

Another claim to fame for Windber: the birthplace of the man who invented rock n roll.

Well... he didn't actually invent it. Disc jockey Alan Freed just coined the word "rock n roll" in the 1950s, defining what we know as rock n roll today...
After the stretch of wild forest in the highlands between Cambria and Blair county, the Traveler finds himself back in rolling farmland once again.

And with this, it's time to bid Greater Johnstown and Cambria county goodbye. The Traveler begins his long 40+ walk up through the mountains back east .

One thing that quickly catches his attention is a vegetable stand. There's sweet corn, tomatoes... squash... with a list of prices, and a box with a slot on the top. Yep, you take what you want, and then you're expected to put the correct amount of money in that slot.

Many times the Traveler has noticed this sort of self serve stand along his travels through the rural Northeast. Sometimes it's firewood, sometimes honey... even a couple of used bicycles for sale... all using the "honor system". He's always found it heartwarming to realize that there is this level of trust and integrity for this system to work.

But why does it work here and not elsewhere? He wonders as he continues to plod down the road. Are people just more honest here than elsewhere?

He ponders on the psychological elements involved here. Why would you pay for something when you can just take it for free and get away with it? Good parental education is a major factor, of course . Parents can instill in their children a strong sense that "stealing is wrong".

But it's more complicated than that. Imagine if these were packets of cigarettes... would the honor system still work? I don't think so. People don't want tomatoes that badly, so the guilt you'd feel (and the chance of getting caught) from stealing tomatoes wouldn't be worth it for the reward of being able to eat tomatoes.

The Traveler remembers planting a garden once. No one ever stole his tomatoes or carrots--but they always stole watermelons. Why? Because watermelon means instant pleasure, carrots do not.

Also, with the cigarette example, people already feel guilty for smoking cigarettes, so adding a little more guilt isn't going to affect you that much.

There's another factor to be considered here: in these rural parts, most people are somewhat on the same level and they know each other, so they can empathize with each other . You know that that neighbor worked hard to grow those vegetables, and it would just feel wrong to rob them of the benefit of their labor. If it were a rich company doing this, the honor system probably wouldn't work.

A final factor to be considered: parental accountability. Here parents are probably more involved with their kids than in many urban settings. Here, if a kid comes home with a bicycle, the parents are automatically going to want to find out where they got it from, and if the kid stole it, they're going to do something about it.

Anyways, whatever the reason that makes this work is, these self serve stands are a great thing, I think. They allow people to have an entrepreneurial spirit--without having to lose valuable man hours sitting by the stand waiting for a customer to stop by. Although the Traveler does miss the social connection you get by interacting with vendors all along the road in West Asia and Africa.

The Traveler continues on, as the road winds through forests and along a gentle stream. Its one of those time when everything is perfect... you're not thinking about how tired you feel or how thirsty you are--or how many miles it is until the next town... you're just enjoying the now...

And then... abruptly it's over. He walks under Interstate 99, and he's back in civilization again.