The Gears of the City

by Ariana McGuire

Have you ever walked down a crowded city street and took a second to observe the intricate ways in which the city operates?

Like the gears of a machine, the gears of the city are made up slightly different but still have the same goal. The goal here is to work internally to give power to a whole in order for things run smoothly. The gears of the city are made up of the individuals who come together and work synchronously to keep each component of a city continuously running.

Your morning coffee wouldn’t be available to you if it weren’t for the people who contribute to the processes and methods which have the ultimate goal to deliver a finished product. In a booming city, you could only imagine the constant demand for something such as coffee. If it weren’t for these methods and the people involved, how would the demand be fulfilled? The simple answer is that it wouldn’t.

While some of those are ending their evening after a late night enjoying the city, surrounding them are those just beginning their day with an important role to contribute to the ways in which the city operates. If it weren’t for these people, we wouldn’t be traveling through clean and spacious city streets, but cluttered heaps of garbage instead. We wouldn’t be commuting using city transportation, if it weren’t for the individuals who build the tracks that the train relies on in order to function, or the individuals operating the direction in which the train will travel.

These are just a few of the millions of detailed components which make a city, a city. These hundreds of thousands of individuals and these non-stop processes are the reasons why we are able to enjoy our morning cup of coffee from our favorite spot or commute from point A to point B.

The next time you’re strolling through the heart of your favorite city, take a moment to observe the intricate details which keep the city going, it is then that you will become aware and understand what I call, the gears of the city.