You see a lot walking a dog at dawn - magnificent sunrises, stunning frosts, hot-air balloons and the occasional kangaroo.

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Mostly solitary, when you do encounter someone, they tend to offer a greeting or pause for a chat.

But not everything is this socially reinforcing.

Take the other day in Griffith, an affluent locale in Canberra's inner south.

As I waited to cross the road, the first rays of a weak winter sun struggled to produce any warmth.

An icy late model SUV, having just started its journey, trundled past at barely above walking speed, its multi-tasking driver lowering his window just enough to feed out an empty cigarette packet. Right there, in the middle of the road.

"Oi!" I exclaimed reflexively, rudely puncturing the serenity.

I don't know exactly why, but his contempt felt almost performative - like a rejection of neighbourliness and a basic social norm.

It reminded me of another occasion just weeks back, when I'd watched a well-dressed woman returning to her car in nearby Manuka. She got in, started the engine, but then opened her door to carefully place a half-consumed take-away drink on the tarmac before driving off.

Who, I wondered, wants to live amongst refuse and trash - either their own or someone else's? More fundamental questions followed. Does this person feel community as the rest of us do?

If you wilfully litter, are you also the type of person who would scarper without leaving a note if you'd dented another person's car?

The more I considered it, the more these incidents suggested something deeper and portentous going on within what we imagine to be "our" society.

We have known for a long time that trust in democracy and its institutions has plummeted. But what if the signs of this breakdown are also detectable in such micro-aggressions. What if our abandonment of........

© Canberra Times