Remember the commercial where the father of the bride tells the groom, "I'm watching you"? A babe in arms follows up by saying "I'm watching you watching him." Humorous though that ad may be, watching others is usually no joke. In fact, in my community it's of epidemic proportions.
We have the Neighborhood Watch program, which I've already described to you as being overly aggressive. This organization wants all residents to keep an eye out for the criminal element. Of course we are expected to call the police if we see a stranger walking off with our next door neighbor's front door. It is regrettable, but they also encourage us to call the office and the police for the smallest infraction of neighborhood rules or city and county laws. The 911 officers really love that aspect. It's rare to read a Board Meeting report that some stellar citizen doesn't report a neighbor for toys strewn in the grass or litter on the stoop. It really is about that nit picky. Sometimes it feels like the area has been invaded by WW II Nazis who tattle on everyone else.
Some people accept this as just part of the neighborhood. Others resent every time a homeowner looks out the window while he/she's cooking dinner or pacing the floor.
The really funny thing is why nobody ever questions why these individuals don't want to be watched. On some blocks, there are shareholders who house more than the legal limit of people. Others hide illegals. Some have been known to harbor rapists or murderers. A couple manufacture drugs, including methamphetamine. A few deal drugs out of their homes or their yards. Some hide the drugs/collection site in innocent neighbor's yards. Some casually stroll through a yard and steal bricks, flower pots or Windsor stones. One of these throws the broken pieces back in his victim's yard once he has ruined them. Some even take plants and flowers.
Many work on their cars in the street, parking bays and their yards. Some park their vehicles in the grassy areas. The younger ones are prone to play loud music any time day or night. All of these offenses and more are against the rules of the coop and/or against the law, such as playing loud music day or night is against the law.
Some of them, possibly true voyeurs, literally stand or sit and look in the windows of a neighbor's home. They seem not to know this is a perversion which is against the law and they apparently wouldn't care if they did.
There is a lot of bitching and griping by all of the above rule and law breakers about the behaviors of others -- behaviors which are far less offensive. You see, in this sociopathic world of ours, rules don't apply to everyone. They just apply to people we don't like, never to ourselves.
As Jesus said at one time . . . "let him who is without sin cast the first stone". As you can tell by the above message, there aren't many free of sin.
But then, we should also not let that keep us from doing our part to protect our neighbor's property.
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