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Macher or Schmoozer?

I'm working my way slowly through the book Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam. In a nutshell, which has to be pretty big because it's a hefty book, it's about social behaviors and the decline of them in the US - things like voting and participating in the political process at all levels, and engaging with volunteer and community efforts.

Chapter six looks at Informal Social Connections. At paragraph two of the chapter he mentions the Yiddish words macher and schmoozer. That stopped me in my tracks for a moment. He continued to explain that fundamentally a macher is a doer, someone who makes things happen in the community. Whereas a schmoozer is a talker, a person with an active social life, someone who focuses on informal connections to others.

And while it is certainly nice to sit and talk with someone, at the end of the day that's all a schmoozer does. Alternatively, the macher will sit and visit with you and then either your roped into helping or the macher is going to move on to finish the project or work on the effort that has to be tackled.

Further, behaviors feed into other behaviors.
The macher does things like:
  • follow current events
  • attend church and club meetings
  • volunteer
  • give to charity
  • work on community projects
  • give blood
  • read the newspaper
  • give speeches
  • follow politics
  • frequent local meetings
And the schmoozer does things like:
  • give dinner parties
  • hang out with friends
  • play cards
  • frequent bars or night spots
  • hold barbecues
  • visit relatives
  • send greeting cards
These two groups can and do overlap, Putnam points out. However, fundamentally they are two different paradigms. There is further evidence that differences in education levels, home ownership, and gender, can be seen between the two groups. It's really quite interesting to read his analysis.

As I finished the bit of reading I did today I was left pondering how I want to see myself and hope that others will see me - as a macher or schmoozer. Am I someone who gets things done or just talks about getting it done?
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