The one issue was our next door neighbour. Now, she seems nice enough, if a bit nosy. She's the kind of person that knows everyone else's business, and that in itself doesn't bother me. It's the decline of close knit neighbourhood's that has lead to a lot of social problems after all, such as increased crime and depression. However, she seems to take an inordinate amount of interest in our household waste.
Every time I go outside the house when she's there, she reminds me that the council will collect my bin on a certain date. I've explained to her that I don't find the council good, and, as in Ireland you have to pay every time your bin is lifted anyway, I've decided to go to with a private company. Despite this, she sent her son around to remind us about the bin situation a couple of weeks ago. I politely explained our arrangement again. During the week I saw her lifting the lids of our bins to look at what was inside them. How strange is that?
Last night, she called around to make her case at 10.50 pm. Who does that? I'm sorry, if you're calling unannounced to my house at almost eleven, then it needs to be urgent. You need to have seen someone vandalising our car, need help in some immediate way, or be a card carrying member of An Garda Síochána (the Irish Police Force). Our refuse is collected, it's not piling up on the pavement posing a health risk to the neighbourhood, so what's the problem?
It would seem that by not conforming to the bin collection system of the community, that we are bringing down the neighbourhood. Which is quite ironic coming from people who have a Third Reich-esque eagle on top of their property and hang the Irish tricolour. In other countries, I know it is perfectly normal to hang a flag from your property, in Ireland it is connected with strong nationalist political views and sympathy with the IRA. Now, I'm not saying for one minute that my neighbourfolk hold any of these extreme political ideas, but that their questionable taste in house adornments doesn't exactly reflect well on the rest of us. People in glass houses and all that.
Wow. I'm in complete shock. You have to keep us up to date with the refuse voyeur.
ReplyDeleteWow, that sounds quite strange. We actually had a neighbor like that at my parent's house. She would pop over and she liked to give us the neighborhood contract and try to get us to sign it, saying that we would never leave toys outside or park our camper in the driveway. We have small kids, toys accidentally get left out. Good thing the contract ran out. :)
ReplyDeleteteehee--I mean I know I shouldn't laugh, but... since it's not ME... Did you know one of the USs largest waste management companies is run by the Mafia, so perhaps your local public collection is run by the IRA and they are trying to pressure you into participation? You know that is actually an excellent set-up for a book... (then I see book plots everywhere)
ReplyDeleteSo she called on you at 10:50 to talk about your trash again? How... odd. It's so odd it's making me quite inarticulate.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Hart's on to something there. Maybe trash collection in your new neighborhood is some kind of a racket run by some IRA-Mafia-like organization, and maybe she's the treasurer or something, and she wants to be sure your money goes to the "right" place. Good book plot, yes, but unlike Hart, I'm just a conspiracy theorist :) j/k
Ooo...I think Rosie C may be on to something--Tony Soprano was in the trash business after all. I think if she's going to be looking in your bins, you need to leave her some good stuff to look at. Like fake severed limbs or dozens and dozens of smut magazines. Just for fun.
ReplyDeleteShe needs a hobby!
ReplyDeleteYou should put some pink flamingos in your yard, if only for a day. She'll go crazy.
Weird. This woman has way too much time on her hands. Nosey neighbors are a pain. Stay firm, stay calm, and be consistent in what you say. She may be one of those people who needs to be told something a million times before she hears you.
ReplyDeleteThe trash queen. There's a Steven King type of horror story in there, I'm sure of it!
ReplyDeleteI sympathise on the weird neighbour front. Ours have furious rows at 3am almost every morning. Then, when they meet us in the garden, both turn their backs on us in unison as if we are the problem. next they'll be going through our rubbish! good luck...
ReplyDeleteLxxx
Oh my! That is just crazy! You can have anyone you want pick up your garbage (unlike here where you have to use the company the township wants you to use) Calling at 10:50 is crazy. I hope she gets more interesting things in her life and leaves you alone.
ReplyDeleteHeather
'The Trash Queen', I love it! An IRA moll meets an introverted female writer who has smutty magazines, a broken banjo and an embarrassing number of Dominos pizza boxes in her bin...this could be 'the one' guys! ;)
ReplyDeleteHa! People find the oddest things to fixate on. Perhaps your neighbor lady suspects you have something to 'hide' in your garbage. Hmmm...perhaps you have an inciting incident on your hands!
ReplyDeleteLondon and paris play bazaar mainly helping to wealthy people for making so much good money earn and satta king alos in this bike race make money.
ReplyDelete