19
Dec
2016
By Calvin at 10:59 GMT, 7 years ago
I suggest this every year and will keep on doing so, because I think it’s important.
It’s been said (Mrs Jones said this to me down at the post office last week) that we don’t know our neighbours like we used to back in the good old days. I don’t know when these ‘good old days’ actually occurred or whether they were provably any better than today’s days and I don’t even know if I can talk about the good old days as I’m not so sure moving here in ‘78 from Devon (where it seems everyone knew everyone else and their Aunties) qualifies me to do so. However, what I can do is say what it’s like in my street in sunny Hayes where my wife and I know a fair number of our neighbours and are very glad that we do.
Neighbours are an inevitable consequence of living in a house in close proximity to another occupied house. There’s nothing much we can do about it and whether you like them or not it seems sensible to at least acknowledge their presence when you see them and engage in some light banter when the opportunity arises.
We’re lucky enough to have some very pleasant neighbours where we live; people you can trust your house keys with and who will happily take in a parcel. We might occasionally be asked to feed a cat or two or maybe turn some lights on and off and draw some curtains in the full knowledge that these quite minor, but very important neighbourly services, will be reciprocated – gladly.
We have other neighbours who live on their own who tend not to ask for help and these are the ones that always give me concern at this time of year. Take 87-year-old Fred for instance. He lives close by and he’s lived in his house since it was built in 1956. I see him out the front occasionally and always say hello and I often bump into him at Sainsbury during our weekly shop. We always exchange Xmas cards and he stills sends birthday cards to our two sons who moved away some time ago. He doesn’t get too many visits from relatives over the year and his only real socialising is his once a week visits to the church. Clearly he doesn’t stay for coffee afterwards as he’s there and back within the hour.
Now, Fred, who seems happy enough when we talk, might actually love being on his own over Christmas. He can have his festive lunch at a time when he chooses or not have one at all and he can watch what he likes on the telly. That’s absolutely fine by me, but there are some who are not like Fred; single, elderly people who have no relatives and have outlived their close friends and neighbours. Some of these people crave some company and conversation and although this longing spans the whole year it is at this time of year with the short days and inclement weather that a knock on the door from a neighbour would be particularly welcomed.
And there’s a benefit for the whole community when we look out for each other. A close and connected community has a much lower crime rate than one where the neighbours are unknown and disengaged and it therefore makes sense to me and my wife to be neighbourly and involved; not in their faces, so to speak, but to be there to offer a friendly hand when help is required. So I do hope that during this festive season you will brave the cold and knock on a neighbour’s door to say hello. A glass of sherry and a mince pie and a 30 minute chat would be welcomed by most and, actually, our senior citizens are fascinating people to talk to anyway.
Make a neighbour’s day and knock on a door!
