Mr. Roger's Neighborhood is only fiction.
Posted
Thursday, October 25, 2007 3:49 PM
Did I watch too much Mr. Roger’s Neighborhoodas a child? I mean, once I’m established in my home and someone moves into the neighborhood, I’m the type to show up at the door to introduce myself with a plate of cookies. And I guess I was just expecting the same type of treatment. Let me say … 1 neighbor was very friendly and introduced himself (thank you for restoring my faith in people!).
Experience #1 re: Welcoming new home owner to neighborhood– We’ve been remodeling for months now. And my husband was burning some of the demolition. He was out there being King of the Burn Barrel and noticed that a car had suspiciously backed in across the road (which is a cornfield) and was watching him. It really freaked him out (he came inside and focused the binoculars), but I told him he was being paranoid…the guy probably just had time to kill or a call to make. Right? (He says I’m too trusting and innocent – I’m beginning to wonder if he isn’t right.) Later that day a police man shows up and writes DH a citation for burning. (A township handbook would have been nice. See Experience #2.) DH isn’t from this area and didn’t know the “law”. Now…being established in the neighborhood, I would’ve approached a new neighbor and said “hey, just to let you know…you can’t burn on Sundays”. Then if the neighbor was a total ass, then maybe I’d have blown the whistle, but that neighbor (and I understand that DH was totally at fault and in the wrong), but that neighbor could have been friendly. We received the fine yesterday. $434.50! Let’s hope the magistrate is more compassionate with first time “burn barrel offenders” than our nasty neighbor. We hang our head in shame. We’ve learned a very valuable lesson.
Welcome to the neighborhood!
(We came home from Phantom Fright Night last Sat. and some neighbor was obviously having a party with a loud karaoke microphone – guess our neighborhood attitude should have provoked us into calling the police, but…if we’d have been bothered, we would have approached them first.) I guess we’re just nicer people that way.
Also, realtors and townships: Coordinate! Get together to distribute township handbooks to new residents! How is one to know all the rules? It never struck me that we should inquire about such things or that what we’d be doing would invoke a neighbor to be so wickedly discourteous.
Experience #2 re: Township handbook – We contacted a garbage service and paid the activation and quarterly bill and all was well. I assumed they were the ones picking up our trash and everything was fine and dandy. THEN…we get a garbage bill from another service provider. I called and guess what?! Our township has a contract with a garbage company and they said the other company wouldn’t even be allowed to have a truck in our area. They said that they had better rates and were contracted with our township. Nice, huh? Well, they aren’t cheaper. They’re $5 more expensive. But, I guess we don’t have a choice and HAVE to use the more expensive company. In the end it all got worked out and we received a refund from the company I preferred. But – who knows such things? Where’s my township handbook?!
Experience # 3 re: Drive thru “pharmacy” – We suspect that less than legal interactions may have taken place at our home in the past (the condition of the home when we bought it, the rumors, etc.) We think that maybe “customers” peruse through our driveway seeking the previous business. We have a driveway which is U- shaped or half-circle shaped that comes behind our house and back out onto the road. We have a lot of mature trees and landscaping. Now, from the road you wouldn’t know that both entrances onto the main road are 1 driveway, unless you’ve been here before. We love the set up and the privacy. We installed 2 sets of French doors on the back of our home so that we could enjoy the view of the yard and grapevines, privacy and barn. BUT – on many a night, we’ve been disturbed to discover people actually drive through the driveway, (speeding!) and back out onto the road! Who would have the nerve? Like I said, you wouldn’t know from the road that the driveway ‘drives-thru’! And I can understand someone pulling in at the end of the driveway and turning around if going the wrong way, but actually driving back a driveway when you’re a stranger? Isn’t that odd? The previous owners did have a “No Trespassing” sign posted on the sycamores guarding the entrance to the driveway (which we haven’t removed)…so, isn’t it ‘unlawful’ for someone to just take it upon themselves to speed along our ‘race-track’?
We live in a nice township. We’re decent hardworking educated people. The farmhouse house we purchased was a foreclosure and obviously previously homeowners were questionable … perhaps the neighbors miss the chaos and excitement that ‘used’ to go on here? We’ve put money and value back into improving our little section of the road. It just makes me wish we’d have been able to know that we’d be living in a neighborhood of picky trouble-makers before making our purchase. We invested everything and plan a future here, I hate that we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot.
I’m just venting, I guess. I love my new house and I refuse to participate in being a nuisance neighbor. Hopefully the neighbor who had a problem and didn’t come directly to us experiences the same kind of treatment in return, but it won’t be from me. I still have my dreams of living in a neighborhood where we’re all on friendly terms even if it’s only possible in Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.