There’s a movement in Knoxville, Tennessee, which invites neighbours to, “Keep Knoxville Scruffy.” Although it might imply shabby, unkept, or unshaven, the whole movement is about embracing the beautiful local culture of their city. It is about starting local festivals, supporting businesses, and enjoying each other’s company in ways that bring life and joy to everyone. Being ‘scruffy’ is about being unpretentious and including others in on the fun. Knoxville used to be made fun of as a “scruffy little city” but today they own and celebrate the fact that they are welcoming and deeply hospitable. Being “scruffy” is a now their badge of honour.
An Anglican Priest in Knoxville, Jack King, writes about what it means for his city to become a place of ‘scruffy hospitality’ among neighbours. He writes, “Scruffy hospitality means you’re not waiting for everything in your house to be in order before you host and serve friends in your home. Scruffy hospitality means you hunger more for good conversation and serving a simple meal of what you have, not what you don’t have. Scruffy hospitality means you’re more interested in quality conversation than the impression your home or lawn makes. If we only share meals with friends when we’re excellent, we aren’t truly sharing life together. Don’t allow a to-do list disqualify you from an evening with people you’re called to love in friendship. Scheduling is hard enough in our world. If it’s eating with kind, welcoming people in a less than perfect house versus eating alone, what do you think someone would choose? We tell our guests ‘come as you are,’ perhaps we should tell ourselves ‘host as you are.'”
Others are taking similar cues with a little tongue-in-cheek humour, hosting what they call, ‘crappy dinner parties.’ The whole point is not to worry about the house, the mess, or the kids, but to simply share in the chaos of life with others. A pot of noodles might not be the usual dinner party fare, but among friends it is simply an excuse to spend time with each other. It’s reconnecting communities.
In a culture where so many hunger for good conversation and meaningful friendships, it seems that ‘scruffy hospitality’ or ‘crappy dinner parties’ may be the way forward. It is a return to simple postures of shared life, taking delight in relationships, new and old.
Jack King says that they keep a basket in the corner of their dining room. There they collect the wine corks from all the dinners they have with friends. On each cork they write the names of their friends and the dates that they shared a ‘scruffy’ meal and a bottle of wine together. It has become, for him, a kind of beautiful reminder of the life they’ve built around a supper table.
Whether a basket of wine corks, or a picture book of memories, may we each find value in impromptu, scruffy, chaotic times of laughter around the table. Our kitchens, homes, neighbourhoods, and city could use a little more shared scruffiness.
