Ever wonder if you are a good neighbor? Sure, you keep your lawn mowed. You don’t let your dog bark continually. And you paint your house as needed. Those things all help, but what do your neighbors truly think of you? If you really want to know, ask the neighbor kid. Think I am wrong? Let’s take a walk down memory lane.
Think back of your younger years and the time you spent outside. You were likely more conscious of the neighborhood surroundings than most adults. As such, you had a solid grasp on the temperament of the folks living near you. Which of those childhood neighbors did you really like? And which ones did you avoid? I am betting you didn’t have to think long before images of certain people came to mind.
I remember the neighbor who taught me how to fly a kite. And I remember the one who threw my bicycle in the street because I had it in his driveway when he came home from work.
I remember the neighbor who came across the street to help me down from a tree that I was too scared to jump down from. And I remember the neighbors who never answered their door on Beggars’ Night.
I remember the neighbor who taught me how to throw a perfect football spiral. And I remember the one who told us to shut up when my friends and I were playing kick the can in the early evenings.
I was reminded of all this today when I saw a neighbor boy while getting in my truck to go to work this morning. He made eye contact with me briefly and then looked away. I yelled out, “Good morning, neighbor!” He looked directly at me and then cracked something that was beginning to resemble a smile. I doubt that this brief conversation changed his day, but who knows? That small gesture may have been just what he needed. And even if it wasn’t, it made me smile.
Robert Frost once said that good fences make good neighbors. He may have been right, but I prefer this quote from Bruce Lee: “If every man would help his neighbor, no man would be without help.”
How will your neighborhood kids remember you?
Have a wonderful Wednesday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com | 
