Nice Places To Live

Remember high school?  Focus on the cliques and the gossip.  For some there was bullying.  Think how good it was to get out of there into normalcy.  Then consider the possibility that you return to such an environment as an adult.

There are a minimum of three grapevines in my community.  They take truthful facts and embroider them until the original tidbit is no longer visible (LOL, audible).  On a slow day, it is nothing for the perps to make up a story, especially if they don't particularly like the victim.  Sounds more familiar all the time, right? 

Presentation of the area is a big issue.  They actually printed the exact inches that the grass length should not exceed.  But do they ever think of helping someone whose lawn is a little out of control?  Punishment and threats abound over such situations.  Several years ago we had guest speakers at a meeting.  They chided us all for complaining about the length of one resident's lawn instead of helping her.  Turns out she had cancer.  But unbeknownst to these guests, she had always been one of the short grass sticklers who had reported other people.

One social worker type who resides here continually nags that we must all keep our yards clean and free of toys and debris.  She says when we fail to present well it attracts crime to the area.  She may be quite right, but there is crime here anyway.  There was before I came and will be after I leave.  One of my neighbors told of a police officer who had lived in my unit.  He bought the car of his dreams and parked it out in front of the building.  It was stolen overnight.  From a police officer?

This neighborhood advertises itself as "A Nice Place To Live".  But is it really?  Nice places to live are more akin to the age of settlers when neighbors helped each other and were supportive.  In that age the social events were focused on fun and friendship.  A word about a neighbor was a word of concern, not a critique.

Perhaps if I live here long enough, the Board and Office Staff will realize they are elected and hired -- paid by us to represent us not to tell us what to do.  They are here for our agendas, not for their own power trips.  It is their responsibility to serve, not their option to dictate. 

Nice places to live are not about grounds keeping facades and who can top whom with the latest critique of each other.  They are not about people who steal your stuff from your home and yard.  They are not about official (legal) and unofficial (illegal) inspections.  They are not about lying to the homeowners. 

Nice places to live are about loving, caring people who actually give a heck about one another -- not about a sign that is meant to deceive or a yard that is clipped to the nub.