This morning I returned to my place from a nice evening with Dave, (one where he gave me roses with a card telling me what I meant to him and yes I guess that is a very gay thing to do, one guy giving another guy red roses but still it touched me deeply, okay I'll stay away from that mushy stuff this time). The thing that sent me into shock was 'noooooooo don't go' my neighbour was moving out. Yes he is actually a cute little guy, handsome, probably around only 5'6 or 5'7, blond, blue eyes, about 30-ish but also very straight. The real reason I like this guy so much is that he was such a good neighbour. In the five years that I have been here, he has never had a wild party, never had a loud argument or blasted his music past ten. He was also very clean and tidy. I like my apartment because it is a good size but the problem is the walls are very thin. This allows me to hear the people on the other side of my apartment who are not quiet and love drama, so I knew how bad things could get if he was a loud person as well. The important thing was that his apartment was next to my bed room, so quiet is gooood! The only time that he made any noise was when his girlfriend came over, but judging from how long he could last and that he could go more than once a night, I was more impressed by him than annoyed.
The strange thing about being in the city that I find as a former country boy, is that people don't want to be bothered with each other. The result is that I have lived next to this guy for more than five years and never knew his name. Part of me finds that sad, however he seemed to like to keep to himself and I wanted to give him all the respect that I felt he deserved by never bothering him. I always thought I should take the time to just let him know that I appreciate his efforts not to intrude on others people's lives. Maybe he is like me and just shy, maybe he needed me to break the ice. I never got that courage and today as I brought in groceries I wondered if I should say something before he is gone for good, maybe he could care less, maybe it would make his day, he should be told that others noticed his efforts. I always have visions of some rapper-dude, college kid moving in who likes to party all night while blasting music, now I worry what is going to move in after he is gone. Time is running out, I know he will be gone soon, almost all of his stuff is in the truck. I thought maybe I could make a joke out of it and say something like 'oh no you are the quiet neighbor, don't go!' He walks past me but I just could not do it, as I brought in my last bags, I heard him say 'that is everything' he locked his door for the last time and left. He drove away with the moving van, and I left that line of thank you open forever. Strange to live next to someone and not know a single thing about them, I feel a little like I have failed as a member of society somehow. After he left I could not help think, I still never even got his name.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
While going through this post, I thought by the end of it, I would be reading that you finally had a little conversation with him. But I guess, if I were in your shoes, I would also have failed to bring myself up to talk to him.
When I bought my home, I bought a new townhouse because I hate yardwork. For the first six blissful months I had no neighbors on either side. Fortunately, both of my immediate neighbors are usually quiet. I have a nice, friendly-but-not-chummy relationship with them. I hope you get a nice, quiet new neighbor. How welcoming you choose to be may set the tone of how respectful they are to you and the other tenants. Good luck!
I was ALWAYS the social "flirt" when I lived in apartments. I always had to know who everyone was, which unit they lived in, who came and went from units, etc. Except then that meant I was usully the one asked to "watch their unit", "take in the mail" for them while they're gone. What was embarassing were the times I was trying to be cordial and welcoming and the neighbors wouldn't have any of it, preferring to live anonymously. I second what Bill says about welcoming the new neighbors. Luckily, I didn't have many instances where the next door neighbor moved. It was more of a problem in college. If a good neighbor locked his door and said, "I believe that's everything," I would have quipped, "You don't think you're going anywhere, do you?" Good luck with the new neighbors!
Steven
Bummer, good neighbors are hard to find. I am very lucky that 4 of my 5 immediate on my street are great!
It can be hard muttering enough courage to talk to folks that live next door to you. I lived in dormitories, and barely spoke to the guy next to me. Sometimes, I can't help to wonder if I would have been good friends with them or something...
Living in the city is quite something. There's lots of people but everyone just wants to be anonymous, and confined to their own home.
I hope you'll have another good neighbor and possibly get to know them as well
Post a Comment