Who are the people in your neighborhood?

Remember that old Sesame Street song. :-) I find it sad that not many people can name the people in their neighborhood. One of my neighbors just dubbed me Capt. Snoop. So I figured since I'm still snickering over that, I'll share my neighbors.

To one side of me, I have the Disablity Man. Do I actually know his name? Sadly, no, though I do know all of his kids. Disability Man has been here since before we moved in. He doesn't work, yet drunken he can get up onto his roof to fix the antenna during a football game. He can't work, but he is clever enough to tie a push mower to the back bumper of his sedan and drag it behind him so that he has a riding mower. His kids are sweet, but I think they've suffered too much verbal abuse by their father to actually do any better in life. The daughter is 21 now and has just had her second baby while living at home. The older son, haven't seen him in a while, so I'm hoping he got out. The younger son, he's our local graffiti artist. He thinks he gets away with it, but I've shared his name with the local officers when they ask who sprayed Nate all over the place. Hint to graffiti wanna-be's, don't use your name or nickname, I can guarantee your neighbors will know it's you.

I've spoken endlessly about my other next-door neighbor. The good news is, the 21/22 year old girlfriend is gone. Now the son never leaves his house at all. The daughter is still there, and she and her boyfriend have wonderful screaming matches at all hours.

Across from me, there is a family of lovely people (friends of my mom's actually) and then up the hill kind of behind them is this family who feel it is truly acceptable to go to work for the day and leave your two dogs loose outside. I'm still waiting for a paint pellet gun with skunk odor pellets. Every time one of those dogs charged me or my kids, I'd make it stink really, really bad!

The next few neighbors down the road are quiet, unassuming people who pretty much keep to themselves. Though one of them cracks me up, he has an abundance of wild plum trees and will chase you down the road begging you to take some. We hit the house on the corner of our block (opposite my corner) and their sons can be rowdy, but thankfully they are moving, so no more screeching tires at 1 A.M!!

Going out back, there is a nice older couple. Across from them is this awful woman whose dog bit I think it was 4 kids. She still keeps the dog (part Chow), even though one of those kids was her own son. She always acts high and mighty, never works (her ex-husband owns his own lighting company, so I assume he foots her bills), and in general doesn't talk to anyone. Suits me fine - her kids are obnoxious (I've had plenty of dealings with them when I spent a year riding the bus to help the driver out with student control.)

The next few neighbors, besides their obnoxious 4-wheelers, really do not bug me. A childhood friend (nextdoor neighbor growing up) is next in line. She is lucky and gets to live next door to this guy who can burp and fart at 100 decibel volume levels. I've never heard anyone able to carry a burp that shakes the windows of the house next door!

Beyond them is a younger family who are apparently moving to NC where life is cheaper. Then another divorcee who is sweet as anything. Across from her is the family with a really obnoxious 4-Wheeler fan (the daughter's boyfriend), the very pregnant daughter, their semi-troublemaking son who toned down when he got a job, and then the parents who never seem to have gained any control over their children. They live behind me in the road that circles behind us.

I do know most of my neighbors. I think it is a good thing to be aware of the comings and goings of traffic in your area. I know when a suspicious car is in the area, and after two local girls were raped by a released child molester about 10 years ago, I'm more than happy to keep my nickname! I'd rather know who is in my neighborhood and if I should be warning my children about them.