Looking out for our neighboursOur next door neighbour is an older lady who lives by herself. We’d say hi if we saw each other as we got into or out of our cars, but we didn’t really speak more than that. One day, she came knocking on our door in a bit of a panic, saying there was a bird in her house. One of her cats had brought it in, and it was flying all over her house. She wasn’t very mobile so couldn’t catch it by herself, so she asked if I could help her. It took a while but eventually I managed to catch it when it settled on the curtain pole in her living room, and let it outside. We had a laugh about it. It was a funny way to get to know your neighbour.
From then on, we were a lot more friendly when we saw each other. Instead of just saying ‘morning’ when we passed each other in the street, we’d stop for a chat and I know she appreciated having someone to speak to. She would sometimes ask me to help her with something – guiding her as she parked in a tight spot, or asking me to take her bins out if they were heavy. In return, my neighbour left us chocolate eggs on our doorstep at Easter. It was a really lovely gesture.
It actually felt nice to know our neighbours, because often you don’t. If you work long hours, often when you arrive home, you just want to get inside and relax. Making small talk in the street can feel a bit inconvenient, but actually it doesn’t take much time, or cost anything to make a difference to someone’s life, even in a small way.