Being Neighborly Pays Off

[MineralMan]

The times are sketchy these days. I live in a very diverse neighborhood and tensions are a bit high right now. That makes it even more important to be a good neighbor and cultivate positive relationships with neighbors.

Right now, I've been doing some Spring yard cleanup. My old Ford Ranger pickup has branches and brush in its bed. I'm taking the load to the county's free green waste disposal site later today or tomorrow morning.

My wife and I walk our two dogs up and down our block. For the past couple of days, I've been picking up fallen branches my neighbors have placed near the curb and putting them in the pickup bed. It wasn't full, and I hate not having a full load when I go to the disposal site. The trash truck doesn't pick up yard waste. Neither does the recycling truck. Unless you have a way to haul it to the county yard, you have to pay someone to come and take it away.

So, yesterday, while on a dog walk I saw a rather large fallen tree branch in one nearby neighbor's yard, so I picked it up and carried it down the street toward my house. The resident of the house came out. He just said, "Thank you!" I smiled and waved back at him.

It's easy to do things to help neighbors. Why not just do them?

[gab13by13]

1. Good karma headed your way MM.

[Under The Radar]

2. We are all stronger working together than we could ever be separately.

That is the essence of community.

[Goonch]

3. ;-{)

[MissMillie]

4. Far too often

people avoid being nice or doing nice things... when it costs them absolutely nothing.

[MineralMan]

9. Many people are simply afraid to interact.

Just waving and saying "Hi" to neighbors is a good start. Walking dogs is also a good introduction, too. Our beagle and beagle/basset mix pooches love people. Any people. Children think they're cute, too. I make a point to wave hello, smile, and say something to children who are looking at our dogs. They always respond. Their parents notice that we are being friendly, and respond accordingly, too.

The words, "Can I help?" are also very useful. If I see a neighbor trying to move something heavy, I ask that. Generally, the answer is "Thanks." Even though I'm old, I can still do things like that.

It's simply being neighborly, whoever your neighbor is. On residential streets, people recognize me as someone who lives nearby, so they're not afraid of me. I recognize them, too. I have tools that many neighbors don't have. I loan hand tools, but not power tools, because many don't know how to use them. If I can, though, I will come with a needed power tool and help, after asking.

I have a snowblower, so I blow the snow off the city sidewalks two doors down and two doors up the street. It's no real work, and takes only a few minutes. Many of my neighbors don't have one, so I save them from having to shovel off those public walks. Besides, we walk our dogs in the winter months, too, and a clear sidewalk helps. Other neighbors with snowblowers do the same thing to help their neighbors, as well.

That's how I was brought up, so that's how I behave.

[Siwsan]

11. I also live in a very diverse neighborhood.

I never fail to wave or say hello to neighbors who are walking by. When I'm out doing yard work, my flower beds are a great conversation starter.

Same with when I go to the store. If I pass or encounter someone in the parking lot, or even in the store. I like to say 'hi'. I mean, why not take a second to be social? I've ended up in some lovely conversations with complete strangers.

[MineralMan]

12. Yes. Making some sort of polite contact

is a great first step, and it's contagious. Strangers are just people you don't know yet.

[erronis]

16. And don't forget the hand wave when driving. Sometimes a wave, sometimes a finger lift.

It all depends and you have to be careful with the finger lifting....

Having moved between many states and in the rural areas, there are a variety of signals. Too much and people will wonder.

Oh, I also wave at people I don't know on back roads since, who knows, someone (me?) might need help with a flat or something. (And delivery drivers, etc. My arm gets a good workout.)

[MineralMan]

20. All of those gestures say, "I see you."

They're signs of recognition that are the basics of getting along with others. We all want to be seen and recognized. In my neighborhood, I'm the "friendly old guy with a beard who drives a little red pickup truck and walks his dogs with his wife."

[gab13by13]

5. People like Donald Trump will never get it,

that the only way to get anything out of life is by giving.

[DENVERPOPS]

6. I have noticed

that the good people are truly being even nicer this past year.......

AND, I have noticed that the assholes are going out of their way to be even nastier and even bigger assholes........

[mac56]

19. This

[wyn borkins]

7. Helping Friends and Neighbors Always Brings The Smiles:

"Sketchy times these days
Being Neighborly Pays Off
He just said, Thank You"

[eggplant]

23. Welcome to DU!

Thanks for the haiku!

[wyn borkins]

25. Thank You

Spilt upon us all
MineralMan's words they were
Good words to live by...

[hamsterjill]

8. Thanks for your selflessness.

I find that walking my dog gives me a great chance to meet and chat with neighbors.

I picked up a nail in one of my neighbor’s driveways the other day. Felt like I might keep her from getting a flat...and hoped someone would do the same for me if there was one in my driveway.

It’s the little things.

[MineralMan]

10. Yes. Little things are important.

Pick up a piece of trash, and others will start doing the same. It's so easy to cultivate such behaviors.

[FakeNoose]

13. Something nice just happened to me too

I'm a single woman, getting on in years, and I still try to keep my grass cut and my yard in decent shape. However this last week has been rainy and cool, so I let the yard go untended for awhile. I'll admit that my grass has gotten pretty bad, but I had good intentions of going outside today - our first nice day in awhile - and firing up my lawnmower.

However my neighbors down the street just sent their 13-year old son to knock on my door, and he offered to cut my grass for me. I thanked him kindly and I said, "You know what, I was planning to do it myself today! But if I have any difficulty, I'll come down and ask for help."

Of course if do ask one of those boys (my neighbors have 3 teenagers) I'd offer to pay them. But the fact that he volunteered was a very neighborly thing to do.

[MineralMan]

14. Nice of your neighbor to do that.

My father encouraged me to mow older neighbors' yards when I was about 12. We had a power mower, even in 1958, when most people didn't. I learned many lessons by helping those older neighbors. My father was a very smart man.

[MiHale]

15. I don't envy your city life...

Helping our neighbors is a way of life here in rural Michigan it would be hard to get along without them. Stuff just gets done never short of help.

[erronis]

17. And yet, in rural New England, there are still "neighbors" who wouldn't lift a finger to help.

I think most of them came from elsewhere.

[Mopar151]

28. Townies!

They are the ones!
A foot of snow on their car, peering through a slit in the windshield......

Call the cops on you, for working on your car in your own driveway......

Threatening notes in the mailbox, over political signs on your lawn.

[mountain grammy]

18. I've lived in the city

And in rural areas. Helpers are everywhere.

[calimary]

22. Yes indeed. Helpers are everywhere!

[MineralMan]

21. It's the same here in the city neighborhoods.

At least in the single family home neighborhoods. While not everyone is neighborly, most are, at least to some degree. Encouraging that is an important thing to do, wherever you live.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

24. Good job

That was a mitzvah

[BobTheSubgenius]

26. I bought the house in which we live as a starter.

In 1979. I have been unable to bring myself to leave, partly because it would have been a pile of money to upgrade to a home that would tempt me, and MUCH more so today. Like $300,000 or more, over and above the value of this one.

But mainly, it's been the convenience and warmth of this neighbourhood. I've been blessed with great neighbours all the way through, the "worst" being people that just keep to themselves. My next door neighbour and I have an arrangement. "If you need yard equipment, help yourself, but please bring it back."

My across the street neighbour is a builder, and when I broke the handle of my BFH in the middle of a job, I went over to see if I could borrow his. Instead, I came back with a $5000 jackhammer. I at first demurred, he insisted. If you've never had the opportunity to compare a sledge to a jackhammer, you've really missed out.

Once the newcomer, I am now the elder statesman, so to speak. 40+ years will do that.

[MineralMan]

27. Nice of your neighbor. I hate sledge hammers!

I don't loan power tools to anyone. Typically, people who don't own such tools don't know how to use them properly and safely. So, I don't want to risk loaning them and having someone get injured. One neighbor asked to borrow my chainsaw not long ago. Instead, I took it over to his place and used it on what he needed cut. It was just a big branch that had fallen and needed to be cut into shorter lengths.

The other problem with loaning power tools is the risk of someone who doesn't know how to use them breaking the tool, somehow. That never works out well. Typically the borrower can't afford to fix or replace the tool or he or she would already have one. I lost a lawnmower that way. The borrower ran over a large rock with it and broke the crankshaft. He just brought it back and said, "Your mower doesn't run." That's what happens, and you end up having to buy a new mower. So, I just don't loan power tools.

[BobTheSubgenius]

30. I can certainly understand that POV, but it's not something I'm confronted with all that often.

Most of the people around me are more well-equipped than I, because of their vocations. My friend borrowed my compressor and pin-nailer, but what can you do to a compressor? Knock it down a flight of stairs, I suppose.

The jackhammer was insistently offered, and I'm glad I took him up on it. It's really quite difficult to ruin a tool that is built that ruggedly, though. You're way more likely to ruin what's nearby than the tool itself. The bit did get stuck a couple of times, but I just changed bits and chiselled the trapped one free.

I hate sledgehammers, too. I have what I've been told is a relatively rare case of "male" fibromyalgia, and impact, especially repeated impact, is among the worst triggers. I had to carve a channel through a 10" thick concrete floor, and it took me several Saturdays. The next 6 days were spent in recovery until I could get back at it.

So...yeah. Brutal tools like that - even a simple claw hammer - are not my friends.

[BobTheSubgenius]

31. OH, yeah. Forgot to mention.

At this stage of life, we don't want to be replacing expensive items. Just about everything I have, I consider to be a "lifetime" purchase now. Without a bit of exaggeration, the only clothing I foresee purchasing are socks and underwear.

Electronics, I guess. I just bought a new computer, but that isn't leaving this room any time soon. TVs wear out. Other than that....

I'm just about 70, have the aforementioned FM, and two replacement heart valves and a pacemaker, courtesy of Staph A. I'm not exactly as robust as I was when I moved in here.

[Demovictory9]

29. k&r