Share your neighbor stories here. (interacting with omnis)
I'm venting.
We have this weird neighbor who lives a few houses away. About 5 years ago she got really POd at us cuz we hadn't pulled the weeds in our tree lawn. So she pulled the weeds for us & then deposited them on our front porch step, loose dirt & all. Although it was nice to have the work done, I thought this was a pretty rude way to deal with the situation -- she could have rung the bell & asked us to please attend to our weeds.
Then we went through a spell where our old dog was not doing well and still Jeff would get him out for a little walk every day. On the times I would go with the, when we passed her house, she would be watching & I could see it really touched her heart that he was so dedicated to this old dog.
So last night the bell rings & it's this woman. Jeff answered the door. She told him she still had leftover ham from Easter & wanted to use the ham bone for something else, & if she cut all the meat off the bone, would we like some. Jeff thanked her for thinking of us but declined. She pushe'd it. "It's a really good ham. I got it at the honey baked ham store." To which Jeff replied, "We're vegetarian & don't eat meat, but thank you for thinking of us." She pushe'd again. "You can give it to your dog & cats." (We have a new dog & she's seen us walking him.) To which my very polite husband responded, "I'm sure you can find someone else who will appreciate your offer more. Thank you." He said her face got all cloudly & angry & she waked away POd -- again!
Arghhh!!! Neighbors can be difficult at times! I've always thought the biggest risk you take when you move is what kind of neighbors you will end up with. It's the old devil-you-know-vs-the-devil-you-don't-know routine.
awww, aren't neighbours just great?- like family, you just can't pick em! at home in the UK, i grew up living next door to an elderly lady- really nice neighbourhood, and my mom would send me to do little chores and good deeds for the older people up the street, like go get their groceries from the store up the street, take them a few flowers when our roses were blooming, etc. i remember being 11 or so, and taking some flowers to the old lady next door, who must have been about 70, who wistfully asked about how i was doing, and how i was growing up, and asked if i was 'courting' yet (and she still asks me now, if i happen to be passing- jees, i'm 26 now, leave it alone, i have a man, and i wouldn't mind some privacy too!) then proceeded to tell me (a pretty sexually naive and happy kid!) all about her own historic rampant teenage sexual experiences with local boys, hahaha. while i wishe'd the ground would swallow me whole and mentally said 'lalala' and put my fingers in my ears. yeah, that was nice.
she also has this obsession with the edge of her property boundary, and freaks out if anyone parks even an inch across the edge of where her fence marks the end of her property, on the street (which in no way belongs to her- its the governments street and she has no parking rights over it anyway!)- she'll come out and crossly ask if we could move down an inch or so incase she gets sick and the ambulance can't park outside her house when it comes to rescue her, and she dies as a result- you could park a bus there, and she's never got sick or needed an ambulance in the past 30 years that my family has lived there, lol.
sheleaves whole cooked chicken carcasses in her yard as a treat for our cat to eat (he drags it over the fence and tries to bring it home- and if he doesn't want it, it just attracts rats).
on top of this, she's now in her 80's, and is starting to loose impulse control and her marbles, (but is pretty well looked after) and now she comes out to see if we're parking near her boundary, and either way, she shouts the most obscene expletives that you've ever heard coming out of the mouth of a nice old lady in a pink cardigan, at us, as we come in or go out of our house, to which we reply 'hello molly!, lovely day, isn't it?' with a wave and a smile. what else can you do? hahaha.
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thanks for pointing that out baypuppy- i'd just like to say that i really hope i wasn't stigmatising my neighbour- i've had my own mental health issues, as i'm sure most of us on the planet have at some time, in one way or another, and am well aware of how society ostracises things it doesn't understand or want to deal with, sometimes.
the difference between a quirky acting neighbour and one with mental health issues can be a little blurred. how we deal with it, and how we portray it to others is a line that can be difficult to tread whilst trying to hold onto your own sanity and sense of humour, as you continually deal with them and their difficult behaviour.
i'll try and make an effort to reign it in a little and think before i press 'post' in the future.
HoodedClaw, I didn't take your post in any kind of negative way. Personally I find it hard to be politically correct all the time, especially when venting. Some time ago someone here posted an article that made reference to eco-terrorists & animal-rights terrorists. It was with this in mind that I posted about my neighbor.
While ours is not a horrid situation, in fact in normal circumstances, I would not concern myself with what this woman thinks of me or my lifestyle, but because of the current climate of fear & terror & total lack of common sense in our 'leaders' & our policies, I do worry when I have some nut down the street who is POd at me cuz I wouldn't accept her leftover ham. Holy crap. ::)
It makes me shake my head & wonder how many of my fellow citizens have capitulated to the fear.
Baypuppy, you're right. My use of the term was insensitive. I'm sorry.