Neighbors
Hello All,
I just finished talking to my friends, Remi and Carla, and we talking about neighbors. We have both just moved into new homes, but in different settings. They are a newly married couple with a child on the way who have just bought a kick-ass home West of Atlanta. I am a single guy who has just bought a condo in a high raise near DC. We both moved into a new development and we were one of the first members to move into our "neighborhoods." Being first into the neighborhood, you get to see how everything starts out and you also get to have a sense of, let's just call it, "the mines." They have houses on each side of them and across which are being built and ready to be moved in as I in turn have units that are ready to be sold and occupied.

After a few months, the "mines" have settled in and we have both come to be accustomed to the scarcity of people and the freedom to do what we want. I liked the fact that I did not have to wait for the elevator, or to get in or out of the parking deck. I enjoyed not waiting for a treadmill or elliptical machine. Ok, so those who know me, know that one didn't happen that often. But the meaning is there. At the beginning, you are alone, and then the neighbors move in...and so do their issues.

I have a neighbor that likes to cook ethnic food. I have nothing against ethnic food, hell I'm Italian, but when they decide to had dinner and step up to their stove, we all know what's for dinner. The smell of who the hell knows what fills the entire hallway and sneaks into your condo. Picture it, you're sitting on your couch, watching TV and then it hits you like a silent fart from your dog. There is no escape because you don't know where the smell came from or is going, but all you do know is that if you inhale one more time your lungs will catch on fire. That is what happens around here when the dinner bell sounds. One of the neighbors placed a Glade Plug In outside the door of the smelly chef, but after a day or so, it was removed. Now, I just keep a can of air freshener near my door and when the smell comes a knockin', I go a sprayin'. It doesn't stop them from stinking up the hall, but it makes it smell a bit better.

Another neighbor issue we had was the fiesta a-go-go. It seems one resident rented out his unit to some hard of hearing Mexicans (I am giving them the benefit for the doubt at this point). They live 2 units down from me, but my God went they would watch TV or play their music we could hear everything, word for word, in our units. I guess it wouldn't have been that bad if I could understand what was said, but can you imagine hearing Enrique Iglesia at 2 in the morning. Not a fun wake up surprise. This noisy interruption to our daily lives had been going on for about a month or so, even thought most of the people on my hall sent in written complaints to the management company. Then one day I heard the aye-yah-yah-yahs coming from the end of the hall and thought how great this was going to be, but to my surprise as I was approaching my door a mattress was passing me in the hall. Looked like some called INS or screamed Green Card, cause these folks were running for the hills. The landlord of the unit had to kick them out because they were parting too much. We got off lucky with noise factor. I guess it could have been worse.

Now back to my friends with their new neighbors. Last night one of the neighbors moved in on one side the other side is soon to follow. They are now sitting waiting to see what happens. They don't really know who is moving into the homes that surround their once Shangri La. They ask questions like who are they, will they be loud, will they be nice, are we going to like them? No body has the luxury of picking the perfect neighbor. I guess if we did, we really wouldn't meet so many different people and we wouldn't really know how to react when life throws us those lovely curve balls. So next time you start to curse the one whom you call neighbor, just remember that you can always grow from the issues they present and maybe you can become a better person from it. It hasn't really worked for me, but it's just a thought.

Peace,
De Marco