Who Are The People In Your Neighborhood?

Who are the people in your neighborhood?

Way back when my children were preschool age, a children’s program on the local PBS station had a show where they sang a song about “Who are the people in your neighborhood?”  The show may have been Sesame Street or even a locally produced show.

The point is, who are the people in your neighborhood?  Do you know?

With central air conditioning, and no front porches on newer homes, many families keep their play time indoors.  In doing so, we often do not get out and meet the people around us. 

Routinely, we hop in our car, push a button to open the garage door, set our cd or XM radio player, turn on the car’s ac and back out our driveway.  By locking ourselves in to our own world, we often miss the hurting neighbor next door’s cry for help.  We also miss the elderly neighbor who may need a hand at completing a task.  And, we miss the outward signs of a struggling person who lives within a baseball throw of our own home.

So, who are the people in your neighborhood?  We know what kind of cars they drive.  But, sadly we know little else.

Our busy lifestyles, hectic schedules and our isolationism have caused us to become disengaged from (quite possibly) a vital contact or connector for our business who is within a stones throw of where we live.

The limited “free” time in our lives has caused us to compartmentalize who we associate with.  If we golf, chances are our friends golf.  If we hunt, probably our friends hunt.  If we are Methodists, odds are so are the people we spend time with. 
If we have a dog, chances are we know people on our street who have a dog. 

I encourage everyone to get out and meet your neighbors. 

Get to know them.  Allow them to get to know you.  Build a relationship.  And watch the magic that happens.

My wife and I have very little in common with our neighbors – but, by listening to their stories and them listening to ours – we have a bond that is amazing.  Over time, we have grown to have a commonality other than living in the same zip code.

Go ahead, as the weather gets nicer – get out and talk to your neighbors. 

Have a great week

Ron