That the church was central in life while growing up in the 1980s was in part due to our family's enrollment in the Catholic school board, but there were other

That the church was central in life while growing up in the 1980s was in part due to our family's enrollment in the Catholic school board, but there were other things that changed in the '80s and '90s that contributed to the greatly reduced role of the church in people's lives. Most notable being that locally the laws preventing stores from opening on Sundays were either struck down or repealed. People were therefore able to do things on Sundays that they previously could not. Secularization of this nature is one of the biggest changes to life that occurred in the past 40 years here in Canada. I live in a rural area, and we still get random drop ins from out neighbours occassionally. It's part of what makes rural life a bit more enjoyable. We have pretty good relations with our neighbours, which is easier when there are only a handful. When I lived in Toronto for years it was a vastly different experience. What I found is that because one passes by so many people each day on the street, subway platform, bus or streetcar, you have to switch your default to actively ignoring people. There just isn't the capacity to make eye contact with hundreds or thousands of people every day. And yes, I did go out a lot more often to a pub or bar or cafe a lot more simply to randomly meet people. Now that I'm out in the country again, that social contact is rare, so I take the time when chancing upon someone and am much more likely to strike up a conversation.