Being neighbourly..

When I was a teen, I used to *love* the TV show, Neighbours... Anyone remember that show from the late 80s?

I was in love in Guy Pearce (boy kneeling on one knee on the right) and wanted to have blonde curly hair like Kylie Minogue (short girl in the centre)...'course, with my Asian genes, I now realise how sad a look that would be on me).

But aside from my usual teen crushes and wannabe phases, one thing that really attracted me to that show was the idea of a close-knit community. A community where people just popped in and out of each other's houses - most of the time without knocking - to gossip, to borrow stuff or to return stuff.

I have lived in a lot of neighbourhoods since and I have to say a close-knit neighbourhood is a rarity. These days, it seems people are just too busy to get to know their neighbours... actually its more than being busy - its simply not done.

So it was a pleasant surprise the first time I moved into this neighbourhood over 10 years ago to receive a little card in the mail, the first day we moved in. It read:

"Hello and Welcome to ----- street! The nearest shops is at ----- street - just go up the hill, take the first left, then left at the T junction and the first right. They're open 7 days a week from 7am to 7pm. Garbo days are Mondays and the next garbo day is also recycling bin day. If you have any questions at all about the neighbourhood feel free to ask any of us!"

And the card was then signed by the people living in the ten houses nearest to us (they wrote their street number and street next to their name).

It was a wonderful gesture and something that came as a huge surprise to me. Perhaps its because all the people living in those houses were a lot older (in their 60s and 70s)- all of them had been in the area for over 40 years.

My local shops back in the 1970s. Consisting mainly of goods and wares stores. Check out how many bikes there used to be!!

Many of those neighbours (aside from two houses) have moved on now - some have died, some have gone to live with family and some have gone to live in retirement homes. New people - closer to my age or younger - have moved in.

Now that I'm back in this neighbourhood the second time round, I notice that its a much more busier place than it used to be. Where before there were always people in their houses or lounging in their gardens during the day, now almost everyone is at work or just have more activities during the day. Cars are always streaming in and out of houses - the "welcoming cards" have now stopped.

My local shops now. Mostly restaurants now (but still the original grocery store!) and no more bikes.

BUT some things are still the same. People still make the effort to chat to each other when our paths do cross. We still put each others bins in and out if we notice someone has forgotten to do it. I share my lemons around or help them carry their groceries in. They pop in to give me a magazine or help me lift furniture. We borrow from each other - tools, gardening or electrical items.

I realise now that we are all like this because we were all fortunate enough to have moved into a neighbourhood when there was enough left of an established community from the older generation to teach us what neighbours do.

I have to say, being a true neighbour still doesn't come as second nature to me. For me, I still have to force myself to remember that my neighbours are more than just people who happen to live next to me. I still um and ah when I need to borrow something from one of them. I wonder if I'm imposing. I ummed and ahhed about sharing my lemons - what if I'll be "interrupting" them?

But I'm determined to preserve the neighbourly atmosphere of this street, so I knock on their doors anyway and I'm always received with warmth and a smile. Perhaps one day, being neighbourly will be as easy for me as it was for my original neighbours. In the meantime, I watch my children confidently learn how to be neighbourly and I see how easy it is for them... and that alone is reason enough for me to keep on *being neighbourly*.

I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend!