Being A Good Neighbor

Things are trudging forward and it looks like we may actually be heading toward an April move. {Fingers crossed. And toes.} There are many factors that led us to want a change, but probably most of all is the fact that we just don’t belong in our neighborhood. After much thought, I’ve come to the conclusion that it boils down to one thing: We simply aren’t nice enough.

As you probably know, we just received a mind boggling 35 inches of snow and are expecting another foot tonight. Now, Jeff and I are not fans of snow. While I do find it beautiful, the annoying aspects of it far outweigh the aesthetic value. Jeff believes it’s a personal attack him. I do suck it up and take the kids out to play, but I far prefer frolicking on the beach. Jeff would rather just stay inside and grumble about it.

There are a couple of guys who we’ve begun paying twenty bucks each to shovel our walkway. Jeff deals with the cars when he feels like it, but with their help, doesn’t feel compelled to get out there the moment the snow stops falling. It works for us, and everyone is happy. Or, we were, until our neighbors decided to involve themselves in our snow removal.

Sunday, I looked outside to find our 13 year old neighbor and her friend earnestly shoveling our driveway. While most people may get a warm and fuzzy feeling at that sight, I felt annoyance. Who asked her to come over? I told her I appreciated her help and handed over a ten. She refused to take the money. “Just being neighborly,” she replied cheerfully when I insisted.

Neighborly? Borrowing an egg is neighborly. Using the phone when yours is dead is neighborly. Perhaps shoveling out an elderly, handicapped person is neighborly. But us? We were all set, thank you very much. Her own driveway remained covered with almost 3 feet of snow. Was she expecting us to shovel her’s out? To cook her dinner? To drive her somewhere? What was her motive? What did we owe her? People aren’t that nice… or, are they? Just thinking about it made my head hurt.

I think I’ll fit in much better in the city, where people crack your windshield if you park in their shoveled out spot. That behavior? I get.