It has to be a love-hate thingy Mi. Yeah, yeah, I know you hate the word hate. Me too. But in this instance, I really need a stronger word, you know? The upstairs atrocity is becoming worse by the day.
First it was water seeping through from upstairs. Went crazy getting that fixed. Our walls still show signs of the mess. After all, painting is not an everyday affair, right? Then, the debris. They have zero idea of dustbins. Somehow the concept of dustbins seems to have passed them by. The woman combs her hair and lets go of the bunch of falling hair out the window. The child eats chocolates and drops the wrappers out the window. The man eats paan masala and throws the wrapper out the window. And their maid? She takes the cake. She throws garbage from the kitchen window. Apparently on occasion, they’ve even disposed of sanitary waste via the window, I am told by our R.
One might think there’s an easy solution to these things, no? No. Our verandah is the victim now. Heh. We’re the victims. They’ve done away with the outlets that drain water from the verandah with the result that water now pours through into ours, and along the ceiling. It messes up anything we may have kept in that part of the verandah.
Then yesterday, Sury wanted me to throw him his raincoat from upstairs and when I leaned over, I got a misty shower from up – and I was so disgusted. I saw they had spread out clothes to dry on the wall, dripping. And the drippy water comes – you guessed it – straight into our verandah. Which means we must now avoid – no – sacrifice – the first clothesline.
I’ve written missives to the condo management and they’re busy “looking for a solution” since the past few months while we’re getting drenched in the torrent of solutions from above.
But not all neighbors are freaks. We have some nice ones too! The ones that readily accept our mail when our door is locked. The ones that invite us for festivals. The ones that simply come over and sit and chat. The ones that depend on us to be their point of contact when they are away. The ones that trust us with their keys and children.
Let’s not forget the most wonderful neighbor of all – our ‘Shnu! 28 years and going strong!
What a balance eh? That’s what life is all about!
Truly, neighbors are like family, Mi. Can’t choose them! Thank God for friends!
And oh, I think you’ll appreciate it when I say that I was totally sweet and civil to the woman when I met her at the puja last Sunday…and even complimented her about her prasadam – she had made a sweet. Hmm. *Adjusting the halo around my head*
Does that make me stupid?
Also joining Finding Ninee for Finish the Sentence Friday – “When it comes to my neighbors…”
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5 thoughts on “Neighbors. A Mixed Blessing”
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Not one bit Vidya…Make that halo your tiara. Your post reminds me of relatives. I consider them a “mixed blessing”.
True, Nisha 😀
Oh that is just so very frustrating! Your halo is shining all the way over here to western Canada. May it blind your neighbor just enough that she smartens up! Yes, I vote that you whip up something delicious and pop along with it to them for a visit and a CHAT.
🙂 I plan too, Kelly! And it is a good thing we’re in the middle of festival season in India…so it makes it even more easy! Thank you for coming by!
I live in the top apartment of a complex, and I have a little deck outside with my lower neighbor’s right below us. While I was tempted to put a sandbox out there for the kids, I’m like, “No, that means sand for my lower neighbors…” We did have a water issue. Every time the kids took a bath, water dripped below us. Two things caused it. One, the lining around the tub was bad and this place is poorly built. Two, the condensation of the steam on the air conditioning vents also wasn’t just for my place but also their’s, and their showers can do it to mine. Living in a place like this, it really helps when people understand it’s a give and take. Not everything can be perfect, but it takes all of us to make it work and respect others. Like in my case, we can’t fix the condensating water thing, but I did fix what I could to make things work. I hope those neighbors of yours see the error of their ways. You sound like you are handling it better than most people. They are lucky to have you as a neighbor.