The neighbors across the street were at war when we moved in and little did we know we’d be grandfathered in to it.
It was the old retired couple vs the couple our age.
The war was over dog poop.
Dog poop!
The couple our age had a few chocolate labs and the dogs would continually go over to the retired peoples house to poop. The old couple furiously used a shovel to throw the dog poop back over the fence.
The young couple named them “who-flung-poo”.
Then we moved in…
The retired couple didn’t even give us a chance. They assumed, because of our age, we were just like the young couple.
So many assume…so little know.
If the retired couple would have given us a chance to introduce ourselves maybe they would have seen us for who we are instead of who they perceived us to be.
We were team “who-flung-poo”!
YEARS have passed and the dog people moved out over the winter but those oldies still don’t like us.
I’ve saved them from dead batteries, watched over their house when they fly south for the winter and helped out when I could but it hasn’t swayed their opinion.
She NEVER returns a friendly wave or a hello.
In fact the only time she’s ever talked to my kids is to swear at them. I’ll be the first to admit that my men know more swear words than I do (kids these days…) but for someone to just outright swear at kids is rude in my book.
You would think after 13 years of this I would stop waving and saying hello BUT you know what, being kind doesn’t cost a damn thing.
Sure, maybe she’s had a hard life or suffered some terrible tragedy I know nothing about but she doesn’t have to be a dick about it.
It doesn’t matter how many hardships happen in my life time I will still throw kindness around like confetti because it’s free and the world needs it. How many of your days are brightened by the smile or compliment from a stranger? Wouldn’t it serve you to pay that respect and behavior forward?
The world right now is filled with so much fear and hate and blame that kindness and love will go further than ever before.
This blog post wasn’t inspired by my neighbor. Over the weekend I encountered a rude stranger when I reached out for help. I couldn’t help but think of our world right now and how treating others as we like to be treated would make a difference.
KINDNESS makes a difference.
It doesn’t matter to me if I wave at that neighbor for 20 more years and she doesn’t respond back, energy is energy and positive LOVING energy is stronger than hate.
Put on your kindness cape and help me make a difference, even if it’s one wave at a time.
