Phew!, for the umpteenth time I thought of how to start writing this "my next-door neighbor/neighborhood", but was just at a loss because there are loads of things to pen down. Anyway, I'll just start and see where it leads, but be ready to get shocked.🤣
First, my neighborhood is something you'd call a rural - city dwelling place. The environment is calm and serene, secure, at least to some extent, but somehow, it sucks!, arrghh!. Well, not actually the environment itself but the inhabitants, though not all but a greater percentage of them. Sometimes I wonder if it wasn't by mistake that they found themselves in the city because their behavior doesn't depict those who live in the city. Not at all
These set of people have no care for environmental health and cleanliness. This phrase "cleanliness is next to godliness", to them, is just mere saying which shouldn't be practiced. I do wonder, sometimes if there are some loosened knots in their medulla obloganta because I don't understand how a sane person would carry a 50kg bag filled with all sorts of garbage and dump on the road, without a tingling care or conscience of how their actions will impact the people and environment. There's a designated dumpster in that area, well manged by the government, yet they won't use it. It's disheartening.
The road isn't yet tarred so it's usually waterlogged, thereby attracting more grasses especially during the rains. Now there is a general sanitation day in my city, can you imagine that none of them would care to come out and tidy the environment. They will all watch the road overgrow with grasses until someone, usually my next door neighbor or another man from the next compound contracts someone to clear it.
Sometime last year, it rained so much that the road was flooded and people had to dip their feet in the water to pass. Now the available space beside the fence which would have been a saving help was overgrown with grasses. That day I had gone to drop my phone at the charging station. I managed to pass by the fence side, had grasses scratch my hands because I didn't want my feet touching the water and on coming back, there was this surge of frustration and anger in me. Frustration on the state of the road, and on the nonchalant attitude of the men there. I got home, picked up a machete and started clearing that portion. I was on it until a male neighbor, from the next compound joined me. We were able to make it a bit passable. All I heard from the passerbys were "Well done", "Oh, it's you, you've tried", "God bless you", and so on. What a people!
Again, I think some people actually do not have any business living in the city or "township" like we call it here. They're better off in their villages or hometowns where there are bushes for them to go litter as they like. Imagine someone defecating on the road where he and everyone else passes everyday. You come out of your house in the morning with high spirits to make the best out of the day, and a heap of faeces is what greets you, dammit!. The worse is that the people see it and pass without much ado, feeling less concerned, how sickening!. This has left me wondering if whoever that's behind this act isn't doing so for devious reasons because he's done it, not once, at same spot, where everyone who passes must see, and can mistakenly step on it. You know, some people can do the darnedest things just to achieve their aim. I stopped passing that way, and had to take the other route which is way longer, but it's better as I wouldn't have to get more pissed with things my eyes behold.
This saying that "the world is a beautiful place, but the inhabitants are the ones destroying it" is what's exactly playing out in my neighborhood. It's really sad.
I could remember how habitable and welcoming the environment was when I moved in there, but now it's an eyesore. More houses have sprouted, more people have moved in with different characters and behaviors, one which is engaging in actions that is detrimental to everyone and the environment.
I've spoken to two of the oldest residents in that neighborhood about the deplorable state of the road, and the behavior of some of the people, and they promised to call a meeting once again so the neighborhood can be organized because their previous attempts yielded nothing. I hope they do so soon because things have really gone from worse to worst.
About security, there was local paid vigilante the time I moved in. Very efficient, they were. After sometime some refused cooperating so the guys had to stop, now, everyone is their own security
and it's telling on us, There has been records of pilfering, both in my compound and the ones around. And they operate in the middle of the night when everyone might have slept. They're usually quiet and smooth operators. My next door neighbor's phone, my former neighbor's phones, clothes that were left outside the cloth lines, foot wears and other valuables have been taken away, but I've always been lucky to have none of mine pilfered. Maybe whoever that's doing it is afraid of me, lol.
Their last visit left all of us in wonderment if they were not actually using jazz to operate because how can all of us sleep so deeply that no one heard when these boys pulled down the iron protective rail on the wall, climbed in, came to the backyard and carried a 15KVA generator, took my neighbor's new phone that was right beside him on the bed and went away through the gate. The thing is when I woke up after I heard my neighbor's voices, hours after their operation, it was as if a scale fell off my eyes and they, too said same thing.
The simplest tips for living in peace and harmony with your neighbors are;
dey your dey, mind your business, maintain your space and don't trespass.
There are three apartments in my compound. The two neighbors are occupying the ones at the front, while mine is behind so everyone is "on your own". There are times I can stay days without seeing any of them.
Talking about trespassing, I could remember how rocked I was the day my next door neighbor told me what the new one did few days after they moved in. He said the man called him and gesturing with his hands by way of drawing a line demarcating the compound, said "neighbor, this portion is your own, this one is ours". He said he only smiled and told him, "I've heard you", and left.
Imagine a tenant dragging and claiming portion and space in another man's property, no be craze plus juju be that. 🤣
During last year's farming season, this same man had the mind to cut down the bitterleaf plant that was at the space they were going to cultivate because the wife of the other neighbor usually harvest them. The bitterleaf he didn't know when it was planted oo. The thing is they moved in, prepared and ready for war because of the information fed them by the daughter of the last occupant of the house, who was the woman's colleague. They might have probably been told that I was "the good neighbor", while the other people weren't. I actually did relate with the woman a little when they moved in newly, but when she and the husband started showing their true colors, I quietly distanced myself, which, I'm sure she wasn't happy with, but I care less. She can't call a fellow woman like her "a prostitute" and expect me to still pally with her, no way.
To my old neighbors, I would say that we've come to understand ourselves over the years and now know how to relate, whenever there's room for that. The man is a nice person, that's the one who contracts the laborers to clear the road. I see him as my elder brother and I accord him the respect due to him, and he does same to me too. The wife, I heard and also confirmed that she's prone to quarrels, squabbles and the like. She tried a couple of times with me but I gave her the cold attitude. I won't be found exchanging words with a fellow woman when I have better things to do. No way!
Just like my neighbors, I have my own "skoi skoi" (issues), which they can also pinpoint if given the chance. No one is perfect, we're just tolerating each other to avoid rancour.
I better end it right here, else.... 🤣
Thank you for reading to this end!
Still the #threadsaddict 😂
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