What Kind Of Neighbours Do You Have?
Sunday, August 3, 2008Posted in: random musings, random ramblings
I ask, because all of our friends have similarly aged neighbours, who they can do fun stuff with.
Not us. We seem to always get stuck with the coffin-dodgers whose idea of fun is polishing up their classic ‘circa 1925’ Jaguar to within an inch of its life. What’s up with that? Urrggh.
For once, it would be lovely to have neighbours who are at least the same age as us, so that we can invite them over to look at our fabulously refurbed kitchen, so that they can participate in the whole obligatory, “I’m so jealous of your kitchen” thing that people do.
Is that asking too much? Sheesh.
Emmy
August 3
11:48 am
Iz vampire kitteh. I work at night and sleep during the day, so I rarely see my neighbors. I couldn’t exactly go around and introduce myself when I moved in last year, since we all have gated driveways. I’m not shouting into anyone’s intercom, thanks.
I see kids and teens running around on the beach, which is only accessible to residents, but all of the adults I’ve seen are quite a bit older than I. I sincerely doubt any of them are polishing their Jaguars. That’s what the staff is for, lolz.
(disclaimer: freely admits to being so lazy I haz a service pick up my bimmer, detail it, and drop it back off in the driveway)
Bernita
August 3
12:23 pm
Am not social. Am hermit.
Would only notice neighbours if they showed up with torches and pitchforks.
Cindy
August 3
2:45 pm
I’m getting curmudgeonly and find myself surrounded by five million children who don’t know how to behave, don’t know how to play without screaming and don’t respect others areas.
queenbeetrainer
August 3
3:00 pm
I live in central west Florida…you’re preaching to the choir…
Lori
August 3
3:54 pm
I live in an average American community. I don’t talk to my neighbors because almost none of them speaks English.
Ellen Ashe
August 3
3:54 pm
My neighbours are cows. Literally. Some might say I have finally come into my own. I agree…Seeing that these cows have a higher intelligence than most of my former neighbours…
che
August 3
5:58 pm
The condo complex in Naples, Fl where I lived briefly consisted of maybe 90% senior citizens. Many of them were way more socially and physically active than I was, and very friendly. And they sure loved their drinkie winkies. I say this as someone raised a Southern Baptist and not knowing very many older people, outside of my dad, who drank alcohol.
Rosemary Laurey
August 3
5:59 pm
Speaking as one of the coffin dodgers (but no Jag- I wish! have lusted after one since before I got my first licence)
Most of my neighbours are pleasant enough. Quite nice really. Some younger than us some even older.. Haven’t been in many of their kitchens though. Too busy working. LOl!
kirsten saell
August 3
9:01 pm
For almost a full year I found mysef living on the other side of a duplex from a gang of early-twenties party boys who did things like play paintball in the back yard (complete with hooting and hollering) at 1:30 in the morning on a weeknight. When asked to take it inside, their response was a stunned, “Oh, sorry, were we bothering you?” Um, duh.
How many times did I lie awake in bed all night long, my windows shut tight and a soothing ocean soundtrack playing next to the bed, able to sing along with their music despite the eight-inch-thick concrete wall separating us? How many mornings did I watch my other neighbor pack up his van to go to work at 7 a.m., while the music still blared from next door? How many nights did I drag the local cops out of their beds to deal with the problem, only to have to drag them out again an hour later when more people arrived to party and the volume knob inched its way back up to max.?
Now we have a middle aged couple who like to garden, display ceramic kitties on their windowsills, and with whom we have nothing in common. It’s like a dream come true.
Christine McKay
August 3
9:03 pm
My neighbor dances nude in her upstairs window (and I know because she’ll call and tell me she’s going to do it…she’s in her fifties…) Yeah, yeah. Why look if you know? It’s like a gawker at an accident scene.
When the wind is right, I can also hear the good “Christian” lady 1/2 mile away cussing and threatening her kids.
But have a problem and the neighbors rally, regardless of if you’ve only met the people once or twice.
jmc
August 3
9:06 pm
My neighbors are a combination of long term residents and new comers. Technically I’m a new comer to the neighborhood, having lived in my house for only 6 years and in the neighborhood generally for 9. Neighbor to the left? Grew up in my house — it was his mom’s. Neighbors to the right? A group of boys just graduated from college. There are a few children, but young families tend to not stay once the kids hit school age, because the city schools are bad. The kids who are around are…borderline delinquent.
The oldtimers sit out on the stoop in the evening and chat. The new ones don’t. I like to sit out front and read; usually a couple of neighbors will stop and chat.
Wandering Chopsticks
August 3
9:11 pm
Funny. Everyone hones in on the part about neighbors. Who needs neighbors when you have the internet? Upload photos of your new kitchen and I promise to ooh and aah appropriately. 🙂
Dee Tenorio
August 3
10:15 pm
The condo across from mine (on the same side of the street, we might as well be a duplex) seems to have a lot of traffic. There was the divorced dad who brought his kids home on weekends and then went to work while they were there–somewhat screamy guy, too–who morphed into the chain smoking, overbleached party cow who liked to dump her ashes on our porch–BEFORE we met her officially, thanks—and seemed to hate us horribly. Oh yeah, she was a peach.
Now we have the dramatic couple who can’t decide if they love each other or hate each other. One thing’s for sure, they don’t really like their dog. Hubby actually got home the other night to sleep (he’s been doing overnighters at work) and they forget to close their windows prior to…well, let’s go with hubby’s nickname for them: The Humping Trumpets.
Suffice it to say, I wouldn’t want to be under either one of these people.
The neighbor three doors over is incredible. I love her. We don’t go out places, but we talk whenever we can. (She and hubby are about 15 years older than us, so she’s somewhat maternal to me.) She’s officially the best neighbor we’ve had in our lives.
I guess you gotta go a lot of places to find the right neighbors.
Dee
Sam
August 4
2:07 am
I have some pretty cool neighbors. We aren’t the ‘play a neighborhood game of basketball’ type. We always wave though and I talk to the next door neighbors once a week or so.
My next door neighbors gave us 14 mature lilac bushes this year. The people in the house before them planted a row of 50, and the new neighbors thought them planted to closely together. So, they only want every other…and we got some of the rest. They (the bushes) were 5 years old or so.
Sam..
Aemelia
August 4
2:44 am
I live in the middle of the woods…no close neighbors to be annoyed by (or for us to annoy! LOL)
Chez
August 4
5:52 am
I miss the mad lady across the road who at 80 liked to sunbathe topless on the front porch. There’s nothing make you feel more like a spring chicken than a morning filled with overtoasted saggies. Of course the vehicle accident rate in the area has dropped some, so bonus there.
Dawn
August 4
8:58 am
I am a self confessed hermit. I would like to be more sociable, but I just am not. And frankly, I couldn’t stand everyone to be in my business like in Corrie or EastEnders.
I don’t like our neighbours to the right. They have really rude children. When they first moved in I was really pleased ‘cos I thought it would be nice for dd to have kids to play with, but then everytime their ball came into our garden, they’d come to the door “Can we have our ball back?” No please and certainly no thank you. In the end, I’d tell them to say please and I wouldn’t hand the ball back till they said thank you. Luckily dd doesn’t like the kids.
I’ll say hi to some of the dog walkers as our house is right on the way to the park, though.
The Profane Angel
August 4
10:13 am
I live next door to a full blown, spell casting witch, with one bipolar dog (never know if the Rottie is going to attack me or lick me), who just emanates “I’m a nasty person, and you’ll never know if I’m going to be friendly or take your head off” kind of vibes. And she works as a counselor at the local hospital’s psych ward! Anybody want to trade neighbors?
Karen Scott
August 4
7:40 pm
Now, that is hilarious. Very wrong, but hilarious.
With some of these stories, I guess I should be grateful that our neighbours are too old to play loud music all night.
TracyS
August 4
11:48 pm
To the left: Retired couple. Very nice.
To the right: Elderly lady who likes to talk, but she’s lonely, so we are nice to her.
Across the street: “empty nest” couple and a young unmarried couple with no kids.
After reading these stories: I’ve got no complaints!
Miki S
August 5
7:12 am
Twenty-something, heavy-bass-music-at-high-decibels-until-after-four-A.M. (and occasionally later), howling-at-the-moon, ping-pong-playing (yes, ping-pong) pack of boys.
Parties start on Wednesday night and end Sunday night. Drunken ravings by earnest youngsters…”Man, then she said I was an asshole. And I said, man, you’re the asshole. You’re the asshole.”
Half-empty beer cans left on my windowsills. (I live in a six-unit one-story apartment complex and these losers love to park their asses right outside my window while having those earnest, drunken-loud conversations about the female sex).
kirsten saell
August 5
7:59 pm
Hey, Miki, I think my bunch must have moved into your building when the cops finally managed to chase them off…
All I can suggest is calling the police any time that volume knob goes up after 10 p.m. Doesn’t mean the assholes will catch on, but the more times the cops are called, the more likely they are to fine the jerks (or their landlord) which might have more effect on them.
Unless you live in a place where police never respond to those types of things…