When I was growin up I knew my neighbors for blocks. They all took care of us and would make sure that we were safe. They were a pain in the nose, but now I do appreciate them.
Today, no, I don't know them. I mean if I see them, I do say "hello" but not the way we used to. I have no one over for dinner or even coffee. We all pretty much have our own lives, and being that I now live in an apartment building, and people move in and out - you really don't get a chance to get to know them. It's sad, because the days of being close to your neighbors and having contact with you, felt more secure. Great question and thank you for posting it! ;O)
Every once in awile I have a chance to get back down to Austin and take a drive and a walk through my old neighborhood. My brother and I did that just a few weeks ago. As we walked along ,up and down streets,we named the families that use to live in the houses as we passed them. We did this for blocks ,all over the neighborhood. How sad that we can stilll remember all the people and their names from a neighborhood we havnt lived in for over 35 years,but dont know the names of the people we live next to now. I know the young family to one side of me--their kiuds were here a lot when my grandkids were staying with me. To the others I have only a 'wave when we pass' relationship.
pat
living in a bklyn i knew all my neighbors ,but now i only know a handful.
YES GROWING UP EVERYONE KNEW EVERYONE, I WOULDN'T HAD LEARNED THAT TWO WHEEL BIKE SO QUICKLY, OR HAD THAT PLAYHOUSE NEXT DOOR TO ENJOY WITH CHARLOTTE, SINCE I DIDN'T HAVE ONE.
TODAY THE PEOPLE IN THE HOUSE ON MY STREET WE VISIT, THE DOUBLES THEY COME AND GO AND UNLESS WE SHARE A GARAGE SALE ETC. WE DON'T GET AQUAINTED. MAYBE- WE COULD PLAN THAT BLOCK PARTY SOMEONE MENTIONED EARLIER...THINKING ON THIS ONE..WAY TO KNOW ..I WAVE AT PEOPLE WHO ARE IN A RENTAL HOUSE ON CORNER, SAY HELLO WHEN THEY ARE IN THE YARD. GLAD YOU ALL ARE HERE, EVEN THOUGH WE DON'T SEE FACE TO FACE I FEEL A GREAT CONNECTION...THANKING YOU ALL FOR THIS, AND OH THAT HUMOR AND LAUGHTER IS MAGIC TO MY SOUL.
ANOTHER CONNECTED DAY, SMILETU
Hi classy girl good post
I grew up in a small town and the saying it takes a village to raise a child is true for a small town
I remember my neighbors from my childhood
They were the ones that used to call my mom and say "I just saw your daughter passing by, or at the store or doing something she wasn't supposed to"
Busy bodies
But I am glad now that they were there to help our parents protect us
We were taught to mind an adult and if they felt it was neccesaary to reprimand you they did not hesitate Now everyone is afraid to say anything to another's child because of the concequences
Probably the same reason we don't know our neighbors too well we are to afraid to get involved so we hide inside our houses
Then people come and go so fast you don't really get to know them before some new person moves in
Yes we knew our neighbors they were our "adopted" family, watched out for us scolded us ect.
Today my neighbors here ( not the ones I grew up with, and I'm in a different state) are nasty and rude and I don't want to know them or even look at them, I have called the sherriff on them numerous times. One kid shot my son in the chest with a bb gun... The other is abusive to animals and now can't have a pet. times sure have changed.
It was a neighborhood back then, everyone knew everything. The kids were always safe and good becuase you never knew who would tell your parents. Now I live in a military town so very few people are here for long. It's friendly, but there is always the turn around. Sometimes I don't even try to know them because as soon as you do, they are gone.
Dee
Hi Classy Girl, yes, I know my neighbors. But I do know what you mean. When I was a child growing up in Highland Park, Mi I knew everyone on my block and a lot of people on all the other blocks surrounding us. I remember next door was a grouchy old cheapskate man named McGraw who would stand in the corner drug store reading a newspaper so he wouldn't have to buy one. His wife eventually left him as he never spent a penny he didn't have to and she couldn't take it any more. Across the street was Mrs. White who all my short life had been a gray haired fat woman and one summer she wasn't fat any more, she had lost a lot of weight over the winter months and dyed her hair brown. By fall she had run off with the Twin Pines milk man. My mother would run to get to the milk man before he went to Mrs. Whites house, other wise it would be a good hour before we would get our milk. After Mrs. White ran off, Mr. White sold the house and moved but even though she didn't live there any more we still got to see Mrs. White who now had another name, because she rode along in the truck with her husband every day. She made sure he didn't linger too long with any other lady needing dairy supplies.
There was an older couple down the street that had a dog named Queenie who was twenty years old. They would allow me to come on the porch and pet Queenie but only once a day. The people looked as old as the old dog and one day none of them were out on the porch any more. It seemed as if they all died on the same day.
I loved Old Mrs. Broome. She was a thin frail little old lady. a widow who was very poor. But everytime I'd make some koolaid and put it in my wagon and go door to door selling a glass she would answer and run to her purse and give me two pennies for a glass of koolaid and I made her get her own glass. She was always my only sale. I still to this day pray for that nice woman. I could go on but maybe I'll do that in another post of my own if anyone sounds interested. We had a lot of characters in my neighborhood and I knew every one of them.
But I know the neighbors here too. We built a front porch onto our home. The only one on the block and every day and evening we sit out there. We meet the neighbors as they walk their dogs, or cut the grass. My husband rides his bike and stops to chap. In fact I practically know them all just like before but that is because I have a front porch and use it.
Where I grew up in Chicago, we knew all our neighbors but we still locked doors. I now live in an apartment building with 12 different "families", in WV..I only really know two and I still lock my door every night. I have a friend who lives in Ohio on a farm and friend who lives in Wisonsin on a farm...they don't worry about locking their doors...ok, they are in the middle of nowhere to a point, but might not be worse. I don't live in fear but I am cautious.
when I was 5 a little red haired girl moved in next door. Here it is over 40 years later and she and I are still best friends. We have shared every event of our lives.
Today the neighborhood I live in I dont know one neighbor We have a web site where people talk but in the year since I have been here not one person has knocked on my door or walked over to talk to me when I am in the front yard.
Here everyone seems to compete with each other for the yard of the month from the homeowners association. I keep my front yard manicured but do my growin in the back yard inside privacy fencing simply because I dont want to play the keeping up with the jones game. People just arent friendly anymore.
