I marvel at Suburbia. We live on zero plot lines, share a fence with 3 different neighbors, yet no one talks to each other. I blame it on garages. People can drive in, close the door behind them and be swallowed into their home without ever having to get out of the car.
So yesterday, as we were pulling out of the driveway to go to church, we finally caught a glimpse of our neighbors. I thought for sure we would have met them sooner since our dog’s tennis ball is floating in their pool (*blush*), but they never seem to be home. We were running late for church and noticed them hanging Christmas lights. Dustin asked if we should stop and say hello. I said “no we don’t have time”. Then I caught myself. Isn’t that what I hate? People so absorbed in their own schedules, their own stuff that they forget others? Of course I have time to meet them! So we got out of the car, and introduced ourselves, the kids, how we just moved in, blah, blah, blah. “Sorry, no speak-a English”. People have used that excuse with us a lot. Especially when we were in the apartment ministry and went around every Monday to welcome the new residents. Little do they know that the “I don’t speak Ing-rish” trick won’t work on this blonde hair, blue eyed family. Dustin actually speaks Spanish pretty well for a gringo and I can pull off a mean “Mi llama es Maria”. So Dustin started speaking to them in Spanish. At that point they realized they were going to have to talk to the smiling Cleaver family. They only shared with us their names, and were really, really, quiet but I’m still glad that we took the time to meet them.
All of our neighbors seem to have their Christmas lights up. At first I felt pressured to put some up too. Of course I need to impress everyone with the cute new family on the street. When will the people pleasing ever stop? But after fighting with the 3 strands of Christmas lights on our tree and hating that we have to replace the bulbs, I decided that we won’t be decorating the outside until we can get outside lights like these LED rope light. I don’t want to fight with the decorations every year. I think it would save so much hassle to have something more durable. I also think that those projectors that do light shows on the house are really cool. One bulb, one extension cord, 15 minute set up….beautiful.
One Comment
I just moved into a new house too and I’m having that same issue with neighbors. The houses are practically on top of one another and yet I’ve bearly met anyone. I guess I was expecting Wisteria Lane where everyone would be stopping by with muffins and other baked goods. I only met the girl across the street because she happened to be getting her mail the same time I was.
Still people are polite and say hi but they do not introduce themselves. I’ve initiated a few introductions but I feel weird going around to all my neighbors and introducing myself. Glad I’m not the only one having these issues.