Be Neighborly
FACTS
- The average dual-career couple works a combined 18.2 hours a day.
- Urban sprawl is creating longer commutes—approximately 25 minutes per day.
- People spend less than 15 minutes per day doing outside chores and gardening compared to over 3 hours watching TV or movies and surfing on the Internet.
- The average person or family has friends over for dinner about 45% less often than they did in the 70s.
- In 1926, the first electric automated garage door opener was invented by C. G. Johnson, beginning the drive-in-and-shut-the-door method of entering your home.
- The increased number of fenced backyards, coupled with the disappearance of front porches and verandas, has privatized residences more than ever.
TAKE ACTION TODAY
- Meet a neighbor you’ve never met before. Simply knock on the door and introduce yourself. Take over something you’ve baked or grown in your garden, or invite them to your house for a beverage or a snack.
- Make yourself more available to your neighbors.
- Mow your front lawn, wash your car, go for a walk, or play with your children outside. Or, if you see neighbors doing the same, go out and visit.
- Plan a neighborhood yard sale or a block party.
- Write a quarterly neighborhood newsletter.
Remember, you have to be a good neighbor to have a good neighbor.
YOU MATTER
Does your mailman know your neighbors better than you do? It’s not enough to just drive by and wave to neighbors from your car window. To get to know your neighbors, you need to have personal interaction with them. But these days, people spend more time indoors watching TV and surfing the Internet than they do outside playing catch, taking walks, and talking to their neighbors. Change that pattern…Be counterculture. You will be amazed when you discover what’s right outside your front door.
Comments
12 Responses to “Be Neighborly”Speak Your Mind
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Consider the ‘realm of possibility that exists in each of us’
(words from the movie, Pay It Forward). I still recall the beautiful melody of the piece played at the end of the movie, namely, ‘Calling All Angels.’
EveryMondayMatters needs a theme song.
i think i am going to go to the retirment home and meet some elderly people and play chess with them and learn some stories
sounds cool.. its funn to meet new people that have same likings you do. or just to have a simple conversation. most people dont realize whats right out their back door.
I will go vitist my neighbor that just moved next door to me. and ask her what she needs done around her home. if she needs nothing then I will see if maybe she wants to talk or something so i can get to know her better!
I think it might be easy to spend some time with a neighbor. My neighbor loves working on vehicles so I think I might help him out with his van, because it seems like there is always something wrong with the van. I might have to help them outside too, because they have some children and they are always messy so they may need some help cleaning. I think I will be a good help to them because they always seem to run out of time, they never get done what they want to get done.
i think that people should go visit their neighbors, even if they know who they are,just find some neighbors who just moved in or that you never got to know. i think that its inportant to meet new people in your life while you can, just think of it as meeting a new friend…. you may be shy at first but then you can really get into a conversation.
I think it is a good thing to meet and get to know your neighbors. I will go talk to one of my neighbors that I do not know. Then ask them if they need any help with anything.
Haha! The mailman might know my neighbors better than me but thats beside the point. I know my neighbors that live close to me pretty good but, the few down the road are cranky on a regular basis so I dont bother talking to them. “(There old)”. Maybe meeting them would be a new good experiance.
the most likly person i will talk to is my neighbor across the street since he just moved in and is becoming a resident for the next 2 years. and it would be a good way to introduce myself. and ask if he need any help cleaning his yard since it was only used once a week and wasn’t cleaned.
I think I’ll go visit some of my neighbors and, just introduce myself and my family. And just get to know more about them.
I think I’ll go visit some of my neighbors and, just introduce myself and my family. And just get to know more about them
Oday what I am planning to do is to go over to my neighbors and introduce myself and family. Then I will ask the certain questions that I was told to ask, then I will start an interesting converasation with them.