Editor’s Note: The USTA website is pleased to present freelance writer Bob Carson and his popular “Outside the Box” features. This monthly series is a menu of outlandish proposals presented with a wink — but the purpose behind them is serious. The views contained in this column are that of the author alone, and do not necessarily represent the opinions or views of the United States Trotting Association.

“The three essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for.” — Joseph Addison

Bob Carson

Born in 1672, Joseph Addison was a bright light in a dark world. He was a publisher, editor, composer, and secretary of state for Ireland. He led an eclectic group of Englishmen that met regularly in a smoky London coffeehouse with the odd name of Buttons. The unusual group of men would hold leisurely discussions. Addison would publish these talks in the form of beautiful essays. You might refer to these essays as the foreshadowers of chat rooms or social media.

Time has obscured Joseph Addison.

Time is weighing heavily on the ranks of racetrack railbirds, a group who seemed to embrace the Addison philosophy of this quotation. The flocks of railbirds that populated our racetracks in years gone by seemed remarkably happy and contented. Joseph Addison and his cronies from Buttons would have been perfectly content to hold their meetings in the racetrack grandstands.

A brief conversation from 20 years ago with a colorful railbird remains in my mind today. New to the sport and wagering, I was fascinated with harness racing and the people in the game. One night while walking out of the track, I found myself next to a grizzled veteran handicapper whose daily perch was a table with six cohorts in the mezzanine.

I asked him a rather rude question, “Don’t you get bored coming here every day?”

“Nope.”

I continued, “Doesn’t it get boring?”

“Nope.”

I followed up with, “Don’t you ever feel like you should be doing something else?”

“Not really.”

I decided to quit pestering him and we walked on in silence. After a couple of steps, he stopped suddenly, turned, and faced me. I remember his dark eyes set deeply in his creased face beneath a baseball cap and the words he spoke.

“I never get bored. Every day at the track is a new day. Hell, every horse race is a new adventure. I feel content here. I have friends here. I feel safe here. The racetrack is my oasis. Someday I might win big, but it don’t matter if I don’t — it just matters that I could. I just love everything about the races.”

What a wonderful philosophy. Addison would have nodded in agreement.

Horse racing is stuck with a Damon Runyon caricature. If a group of writers sat around and brainstormed adjectives to describe a fan of horse racing they would come up with a list of words like shady, grumpy, lazy, unreliable, constantly broke, down-and-out, sad, and big-mouthed.

This is unfair and untrue. The railbird has always gotten a bad rap. They were simply people who found that horse racing was a social event that they enjoyed.

Alas, the railbird is on the endangered species list. History books in the future will list railbirds next to the dodo and the Phoenix. They deserve better. The railbird deserves to be remembered as a gentle, graceful, and enlightened bird.

The falling attendance of railbirds, more specifically the lack of attendance at all live events, has many explanations. The bottom line is that for days upon end, a startling number of Americans rarely leave their homes. When they do step out into the real world, a live show had better be awesome or it will be one and done.

Many say that unless new customers physically get to a racetrack and experience the sights, the smells, and the sounds of horses thundering down the stretch, we cannot “hook” them — but we must. No doubt, “being there” is great, but the future rests in getting people to “log in.”

And the future is where we will live.

Our world has moved to our devices. The resistance to this shift is a fool’s errand. However, the principles the railbirds and Joseph Addison espoused are still there — something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. The difference is that now we must do this in a new environment using new technology.

One possible avenue would be creating small chat rooms, or groups of friends who are digitally linked together to follow an evening program of races. Technology offers the potential to turn the solitary gambler into a member of a group of like-minded railbirds chirping and enjoying an evening at the races.

For example, on Tuesday night at eight o’clock a group of friends open their laptops, I-Pads, and phones. For the next two hours, they listen to a very specific genre of music played on a site. They chime in with comments before and after the songs. Each evening is a real-time, open forum with a friendly group who share a passion. They have discovered this comradeship is a richer experience than listening alone.

People who play the trotters and pacers could imitate these music fans. All it takes are two friends to log onto Facebook and play the race card just like two railbirds in the grandstands. Better still, fans and gamblers now have the ability to set up small groups of racing cronies. Anyone with the desire and the interest can create a place where their horse wagering evening would be more of a social event.

Be brave. Be a modern railbird.

Maybe you could name your little club of racing fans and gamblers Buttons.