Love Thy Neighbor.

In today’s world, how of us can say that we really know our neighbors? If you really think about it, knowing your neighbors is something that should be really important to you. You wouldn’t want to be living next to a crazy person, or registered sex offender without know so. Perhaps you would want to build a bond with your neighbor should you ever go on vacation and need someone to watch your home. Some people may not care to know their neighbors. Some people might be really shy and anti-social, or you might live in an apartment complex where a lot of neighborly interaction doesn’t happen as in comparison to houses.

From my own person situation, I don’t know any of my neighbors. My family and I have lived in our home for the last three years and I don’t know the names or faces of most of my neighbors. If I were to see them at the mall, or at my work, or at San Jose State, I wouldn’t recognize them.
I know that in American society, having good relations with your neighbors is very common. I once dated a girl whose entire neighborhood would close off their court and hold their own parades for the fourth of July, and massive block parties for other holidays. Once again, I’ve never experienced that with my own neighborhood. I sometimes come home and see some of my neighbor’s chit chatting with other, and I sometimes wonder if they’re talking about why none of them ever hear from my family, perhaps thinking we’re a family of troglodytes.

I’ve only had one real encounter with my neighbors. Last year I had just gotten home from school, and as I’m walking into my bedroom I hear the sound of glass cracking from my window. I have large shutters on my window that I always keep closed so I couldn’t see what was going on. However, I was able to crack them open to sneak and little peak and I saw that my entire window was cracked, and I looked to the side and I see my neighbors eight-year-old throwing rocks at my window. I was forced to go next door and tell his mother what he had done, however, what I didn’t know was that the boy is autistic, and was having a tantrum of some sort.

Recently, I found out through my mother that one of neighbors had a death in the family. Our neighbor’s daughter was five months pregnant and died from a hemorrhage of some sort and also lost the baby. Because of lack of familiarity with my neighbors, my family was hesitant to give our condolences and offer any support that we could which is unfortunate.

I’m not saying that I’m going to go knock on all of my neighbors’ doors and introduce myself to them. That would be a little after the fact, since it’s been three years since I’ve moved into the neighborhood. What I am saying is that I would like to have some sort of a relationship with at least some of my neighbors because I’ve seen how long-term friendships can come from just sharing a street. Maybe one day my family will develop a stronger bond with our neighbors, and if anyone reading this is considering doing the same, then do it.