Daily Question / poetry / Tanka (series)

QOTD: 211 Love Thy Neighbor?

Anthony37 Comments

What makes a good neighbor?

I was inspired (not in a good way to write a tanka series on the lack of community and neighbors our society seems dominated by these days. Yesterday is a perfect example of selfish people and their cluelessness.

At the grocery store this woman essentially raced me to the register so she could go first with her grocery cart nearly full, and me with my eight items. She didn’t even look at me or conceive at offering me to go first with my few items. Something I often do for others when I have a lot of groceries.

Then on my way home I decided to grab a hamburger to go. Just before the driveway, a man two lanes over makes a left turn (rather than lane change) in front of me 500 feet before the light forcing me to brake. I miss the driveway and had to make two lefts at two lights to go where I needed to. I even recall him motioning with his hand as if to swat me out of his way like I was a common housefly.

The coup de gras were my very unneighborly neighbors that live in the apartment above me. The same ones who: blast their subwoofer’s at all hours with either bass forward music or explosions from movies, enjoy the occasional 2:00 am argument they have, stomp about as if to step as hard and loud as possible, make noise sliding chairs dropping objects (with huge thuds), and are often hammering nails into the wall it seems. For an encore, until at least 1:30 am last night, a drunken stoned chorus of girls singing at the top of their lungs, and dancing and clamoring about. I did what I could to cover it up, closing my window, cranking up my fan, and my television.

Loving Thy Self Not Thy Neighbor 

The age of selfish 

Everyone wants their own thing 

Such a disregard 

For anyone else around

Swelling with narcissism.

–

Where are our neighbors?

Busy fulfilling themselves 

With tunnel vision

Not a single care to give 

Save their own best interests.

–

They will cut you off

On the highways and byways

Or in the store lines 

Without a trickle of care 

Lest their sole dreams and desires.

–

When did it all change?

Covid did play a big role 

We became hermits 

Then people forgot to care

About their community.

–

If things do not change

We’re doomed in a new dark age

Of such carelessness 

And egregious selfishness 

That it hurts and hinders hope…

-AAA 10/15/2024

37 thoughts on “QOTD: 211 Love Thy Neighbor?”

  5. Aw man, that blows. And the worst part is, it follows you.

    I’ve learned that there are certain states where rudeness, inconsideration and impatience are just the culture.

    I grew up in S. FL… beautiful quiet little beach town… but by the time I’d gone from grade school to college, said residents had “found it” and displayed the behavior you describe. My fav is then honking the horn 1/2 second after the light changes and making the “c’mon… move already” gesture. Sigh.

    Move #2 was to another sleepy little town near Raleigh, NC. Lovely people, they actually waved you in at traffic stops with a smile. Now, 20 years later, we’ve been “found” again and ugly boxes are being thrown up where farms and forests used to be to accommodate them. Traffic insane, property taxes jumping to accommodate all the bond referendums to pay for infrastructure.

    So like Gen MacArthur, I made my final retreat to a little beach town in NC. Locals, surfing, jeeps, dogs, sunrises and very chill. For 10 years, it was cool. I read the other day that this county (New Brunswick) is the fastest growing in NC. It’ll soon be overrun with the rudeness zombies 😜😡😑

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      • I absolutely agree. I went to go get new internet the other day, and I had to set up the app on my phone. I guess I wasn’t going fast enough for the customer service rep, and he literally snatched the phone out of my hands – MY PHONE – so he could do it for me.
        People just don’t care about their attitudes or what they do anymore.

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      • I think that we can put ourselves first without stepping on others to do it.

        I believe in rational self interest.

        I also believe in thinking long term and in the golden rule of doing unto others what a body would have done unto them.

        The word selfish has such a historically negative connotation, I wish it didn’t as selfishness is important for self-protection from ‘takers without boundaries’.

        Self gratification is another concept which has ugly over and under tones, even so I will say here that self-gratification is essential to personal happiness and I am glad I live in a time where the self is a focus. As with anything else, people go overboard don’t they? In the end though, we should remember that categorically, selfishness and self-gratification are bad. They are good virtues by which we create our happiness.

        All that said, don’t mistake me, balance is key is everything. Selfishness and and self-gratification need be tempered with a long sight which incorporates empathy.

        I am sorry that you are dealing with more than your portion of ‘ass-hats’.

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        • Very well said, and I completely agree we need to take care of protect ourselves and grow and it takes a degree of selfishness and self gratification to make it happen. I think it’s when self-interest takes over everybody else’s interests or interferes with theirs, then it becomes a problem. Thank you for sharing and reflecting with me.

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  12. People like that will be moving out soon… you don’t worry! It’s OK to be late or you got delayed by some people espicially while driving, you know sometimes it happens for some reason, only God knows… yes we can’t acknowledge each and everyone issues and it’s actually their own problem… you just chill… but noise above head is unbearable… I think you told, you just moved in???

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  15. The neighbors to the left of us are xenophobic. 😦 The ones on the right are alright. 🙂 I’m sorry about your experiences, some ppl are just that way.

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  16. I’m sorry to hear that. What rough day! My upstairs neighbor used to leave her garbage outside her door, for days, until it all oozed down onto my front steps. This was years ago and I still get angry when I think of her! 😑 I hope your neighbors move out soon! Hang in there 🙏

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