Behavioural Theories

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Behavioural Theories From San Antonio, take Interstate Ten west and you will find it. It's

a straight shot and not too far of a drive. Forty-five minutes of

weaving through the Texas Hill Country and you will run smack-dab into

Comfort. Blink and you'll miss it. Nestled between hills, pastures,

and the nooks of the Guadalupe River, Comfort may seem to fit the part

of typical "small town Texas." Highlights include antiques, big high

school football games, gossip, numerous generations of the same

family, parades, community wide church barbecues, and a Dairy Queen.

Sometimes even I, having lived there all my life, cannot make out

distinctions deeper than these. Yet if you look close enough, there is

much more to the community than meets the eye. It was not until I

moved away that I was able to appreciate how truly unique it is.

Founded by Germans in 1854, the community is a perfect blend of new

ideas and old tradition. Comfort's quaint atmosphere is an attraction

to many. So-called "newcomers" are those attempting to escape the

hustle and bustle of the city and give their children the possible

advantage of a smaller school system. These immigrants bring novel

additions to the community; new businesses, fresh faces on the Chamber

of Commerce, and original ideas for improvement of the town as a

whole. These people are the main contributors to Comfort's expansion.

Farming and ranching, however, remain the predominant way of life. The

town is surrounded on all sides by pastureland that has been passed

down from generation to generation. School is canceled for...

... middle of paper ...

... could relate simply because they all belonged to Comfort in

some way. The history of the building appealed to older generations

and its display of cultural peculiarity drew in the new members of the

community.

As I watched Jim sweep up before closing on my last afternoon at the

shop, he said, "This place has nothing to do with me. It would be

going on anyway." I thought about this. Although Jim and Gael both

play integral parts in what Jim deemed the barber shop's "on going

saga," its importance to the community was a phenomenon in itself.

Since its beginning, the Comfort Barber Shop has been a center for

people to congregate and grow together in fellowship. Through gossip,

news, small talk, smiles, concerns, handshakes, and laughter, the

people that walk through the door of Gael's leave knowing where they

belong.

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