Monday, August 3, 2009

Neighbourly Encounters

What's the weirdest thing you ever did to a neighbour or they ever did to you? Okay, it'd be pretty weird if a neighbour knocked on my door and asked to borrow some sugar...just cos we're in the city and I'd tell them to just go down the road to the shop or all hours convenience store!

When I was a kid growing up I remember my neighbour locked themselves out of their house and they asked my brother to climb in from our balcony onto their balcony...gee they are so lucky my brother didn't fall doing it!

This year my smoking neighbour also locked themselves out and asked for access to my balcony so they could climb into theirs...

it was good timing cos shortly after when they were pissing me off with their cigarette smoke at 1am in the morning I could yell at them and tell them off and they haven't smoked in the vicinity since!

In any case often I go down the stairs or even just open my door and hear great music...after standing there for quite some time to work out where exactly the sound was coming from, I isolated it to a particular unit. Cos the owner didn't respond to my knocking I left a note under the door asking for identification of the music and could he leave a note under my door to let me know...cos of course I just had to know!!!

Fast forward a few months on...and the same thing happened again! This time I left a note under the door again but with my email instead thinking it would be easier for him to respond...in anycase to cut a long story short tonight I picked up the two cds I had left in his mailbox....*sigh! so nice...now I am listening to gypsy flamenco type guitar or something....like that relaxing stuff you hear in open air malls and markets on Sunday afternoons...good stuff!

Oh yeah the other weird thing that happened this year was I was wishing for money and a visiting neighbour knocked on my door and handed me some cash to borrow my garage for a few days that same day :)

On another note...how jinxed am I! I was already preparing for the apocalypse cos my 11 friend is leaving in November and E is leaving in September...today I also found out D is ditching his studies here and going to start the entire thing again but in China! Sheesh...now I see why I'm a hermit- this endless cycle of friend exodus is getting tiring...:p Conclusion: no point getting attached to anybody...some people were supposed to be an island I think LOL!

7 comments:

miruspeg said...

Sorry to hear your friends are leaving town Macs.
But I agree no point in getting attached to anyone except ourselves!

Then it is alot easier to make new friends because we don't care whether they love us or not, and with that attitude people are drawn to us, because we have an air of mystique.

Remember this life is for us to gain as much knowledge and spread that knowledge around before we leave and have to do it all over again.

:-)
Pegs

Zz... said...

Hmmm it seems to happen to me ALOT and not to other people...it's starting to dawn on me it's got something to do with ME!! and the types of people I like... :P

there is kinda of no use drawing people in with our "mystique" when they don't STICK AROUND! and I don't exactly fly thousands of miles either...

interesting you believe in reincarnation - were you brought up with any western religion/beliefs growing up? and did you believe...and if so at what point did this change?

HappyOrganist said...

no getting attached?
I guess I could see that.. sort of.

Great neighbor stories. You actually yelled at them later for smoking? that's really funny (the way you tell the story).
I've borrowed sugar from neighbors before (really only one. the neighbor who borrows food from us often). Saves me a trip to the store! Very handy. It pays to have friends.

don't know about any weird stories..


Peggy. I have to interrupt here - and it's not to be rude. But I am NOT doing this life over again! PERIOD
I"m gonna get my money back if this is what it's all about.

i wish I could think of some fun neighbor stories. I'm sure I have some..
alas, drawing a blank.

Unknown said...

I believe in reincarnation too

I dont think it's you, I think it is the nomadic types you attach yourself to. Trust me, I make friends who leave all the time.

The weirdest neighbour thing was I had a neighbour who would just walk into my house, gossiped about everyone on the block and used to put her cat in a plastic wagon and walk around the street with it.

Zz... said...

Oh yeah HO I forgot about the time I had these Turkish guys who did nothing but lay around and smoke huge long bongs or the Turkish versions of it all day...this was before my smoke seals too-the smell was absolutely atrocious constantly so I went and rapped on the door and the guy didn't even have time to say "what the..." I totally laid into him!!! yeah, that's the only time I remember having a very assertive encounter (like the closest I get to yelling) and not prethinking the consequences...luckily he was so taken aback he could say nothing but "sorry"...I would have been in major trouble if he got angry about it...I think he was just shocked LOL.

Shan...you totally win hands down for freaky house and weird freaky neighbourhood! :)

HappyOrganist said...

msC, you're so scary. Perhaps you come across more timid in real life, but I can totally see you laying into somebody like that. very good.

Although.. there are times, aren't there, when we stick up for ourselves. I've been known to do that a time or two myself. I'm sure I never scared anyone. I think you would scare me if I met you in real life.

My sister-in-law tried to yell at me one time (she misunderstood a bit of information I was relaying to her) - tried to lay into me about leaving her kids unattended on a beach. And I SNAPPED back IMMEDIATELY. No letting myself get walked all over there (not that she walks all over people. she doesn't). But I was in so not the mode for it.
My husband saw the whole thing transpire (that or I told him about it. can't remember). He was very impressed. "Normally you would have stewed about that for weeks - but you took care of it right then." He was happy.
Yep - I can do the Type-A personality thing (when I need to).

HappyOrganist said...

Zhen, I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but occasionally some of your posts on your other blog (talk of mixing potions, working with things from Scratch) are a huge turn on.
I thought you wouldn't want to hear that, which is why I'm telling you.
Alas, it has nothing to do with you (sorry) and everything to do with OM.

Good night!