This essay is the backbone and essence of Neighborberry and Neighbors About Town:
Good and neighborly
by Kris Kolk
“I live in a great neighborhood,”
an acquaintance told me.
“That’s wonderful,” I said, “What
makes it great?”
“Well, the lawns are immaculate and
the homes are absolutely gorgeous!” he replied.
“How about the people? Are they
nice?” I had to know.
“Um, I don’t know anyone here.
Everyone does their own thing,” he said.
My friend was describing a neighborhood
full of good neighbors: upstanding and tidy lovers of order and image. However,
it sounded as if few were neighborly.
You see, good neighbors can be
neighborly and neighborly neighbors can be good. Yet good neighbors and
neighborly neighbors have different natures. Sounds like an exercise in logic,
but I can explain.
Good neighbors never play loud music
and always come to full and complete stops at stop signs.
When the power goes out in Berlin, they get a call
from the World Clock people wondering what time it is. Good neighbors are that punctual.
Good neighbors’ cars never smell
like spoiled baby formula and catsup. They keep potpourri in the ashtrays and
blankets and granola bars in the trunks for emergencies.
“I have lettuce in my teeth,” a passerby might
declare as he primps before the spotless windshield of a good neighbor’s car.
Good neighbors don’t concern
themselves with the cloth versus disposable debate because their babies produce
no dirty diapers. In the kids’ playroom, each crayon has its own private cubby and
the dolls have their own wooden wardrobes.
Good neighbors rotate their dogs’
squeaky toys seasonally and color-code the collars. Their well-groomed canines
do not bark, yip, howl or dig.
If you wave at a good neighbor,
they may or may not wave back at you.
I don’t claim to always be a good
neighbor, but I usually succeed at being neighborly. It’s all about good intentions
and treating people with kindness.
Neighborly neighbors don’t tattle
to authorities when someone’s grass grows a bit. They realize it may be an indication
of a life crisis and consider it their cue to provide any help they can.
Neighborly people may even offer to
mow that tall grass thus instilling friendship and goodwill. They know tattling
spews fear and suspicion into a neighborhood.
I’m hoping this mouthful catches
on: “When good neighbors accuse other neighbors of not being good neighbors,
good neighbors are not being neighborly.”
Neighborly people take casseroles
to new parents and soup to the sick. They “grab some groceries” for those
housebound.
They know all the neighborhood pets
and help scour the streets when they get loose. At Halloween, neighborly neighbors
enjoy guessing who the princesses and goblins are behind the masks and seize
the opportunity to chat with parents.
Recently,
I frolicked through my lawn on the way to deliver cookies to a neighbor. I cuddled
their dog and dodged riding toys dotting their yard. I waved at every car
driving on our street, and I couldn’t have been happier. I rate neighborly
living a big thumbs up.
While good
neighbors polish their already-pristine garage floors, neighborly neighbors are
busy solving the most essential challenge of our time: encouraging humanity to
respect one another.
