I am currently reading a pretty good book called "Outwitting the Neighbors" by Bill Adler, Jr. This book covers topics such as noise (music, fighting, barking, chain saws, etc) weeds, pets (roaming pets, dangerous pets, dealing with pet waste), rudeness, parking spaces, teenagers, and excessively fussy and complaining neighbors, among other things.
One of my favorite suggestions was his returning dog droppings to the yard where the dog really belongs!
I think generally speaking we should try not to be too fussy about our neighbors. Does a dog barking during the day really bother you that much? (Now nighttime is a different story!) It's much quieter than a chain saw running. If a kid wanders across corner of your yard, did he really damage your lawn? Can't we just learn to ignore a few weeds?
We had a next door neighbor who was Ok to get along with most of the time. I remember when he brought his rock band home to practice. Man, was it LOUD! The worst time was on a Sunday afternoon when we had company over and we had to shout to hear eachother, inside our own house, with doors and windows shut! It was pretty bad.
But Hubby and I decided not to say anything about it and shortly thereafter the band broke up. Looking back I am glad we waited and didn't make an issue out of it. By exercising a little patience we kept good neighbor relations.
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I used to have fundamentalist type neighbors who did not let their kids go out on Halloween, did not do Christmas, and even Thanksgiving was off limits, since all people do is "fill their bellies, and they don't even think about God." We quibbled over this more than once, and I finally ended by saying, "I'm sorry, but I just don't think it's a sin to put a turkey in the oven." I was quite happy with this quip, ha.
ReplyDeleteWe finally found the solution. Come holiday time, we kept our distances. I, maybe more than she, did not want my kids having to hear all the "bad" stuff about our family traditions.
When one thinks about it, we really should keep our noses in our business unless what is at hand affects those we know and love in truly damaging ways. If there is direct and a serious type damage to kids, family, or home, then it is time to speak up. But that usually requires courage, and so we don't always do that when we should.
The tendency is to become a bully when we shouldn't and to back down when we shouldn't.