I never thought I would end up living in a place surrounded by the worst kinds of neighbors one can imagine: noisy, nosy, dirty, irresponsible, agressive, vulgar, self-indulgent, self-righteous, overall selfish, and cynical.
No matter what side of the block I look, I am surrounded by people that make it infinitely more difficult to survive in a country like ours, so in need of courage, solidarity, honesty, and responsibility.
Yesterday was supposed to be a special day, but there was not much we could do in terms of making plans to go out or anything. Neither were we in a possition of preparing anything special at home. We settle for watching some series while eating some chocolate and cookies at night. So, I decided to vent some energy taking care of this pending business.
For months now this tree, one of three that give us nightmares, has been growing wildly from one of the next-door neighbor's houses. The house is abandoned since the owner died, but his sons and other relatives have made some visits to empty it from whatever it had inside. We had asked them several times to please cut the trees since they were causing several problems (leaves falling into our patio, roots breaking walls, and vines invading rooms). Like the typical politicians we so much complain about, they made promises, but never delivered. So, I just jumped over the wall that separates the two houses and drastically pruned the tree myself. It should be cut down entirely, but I do not have the right tools.
The vines invaded very agressively this time. Of course, it did not help that the owners of the house took forever to do anything about it.
I found a mini jungle on the other side. Some of the other neighbors had already complained about snakes and centepedes. Luckily, I did not find any.
The vines had extended over three different walls, including ours, invading different rooms in three different houses.
The "good" thing about cuting this one this time is that most of the folliage was vines. By cuting the main branches the whole bunch fell off.
It does not make me happy to leave a tree like this, but given the circumstances, I had no choice.
Societies work better when every individual does what s/he has to do to make their surroundings better. When they understand that their freedom ends where their neighbors' begin, they become better citizens. When they understand that even the hardest of works can be made easy when everyone involved contributes their share, then things start to work better and people start aiming at higher goals becasue they can actually see that anything can be done.
We have a long way to go in this department, here in Venezuela. That's why a tiny minority still manages to control an overwhelming majority, which is too concerned thinking about their particular interests and missing the whole picture. Did any of the neighbors, especially the ones who came to my place to complain about the vines notice that they are gone? say anything? Of course not. But I still had to do what I had to do regarless.
I have two more trees to prune, but they'll have to wait for my right arm to recover its full strength. Maybe some concerned red environmentalist will manage to pull the "right" strings to prevent me from commiting this eco-crime (for that kind fo crap they can be very diligent and efficient). I guess my right arm will be thankful.
Thanks for stopping by
I commend you for taking the initiative and dealing with the problem tree! Most of our neighbors are wonderful people, but two years ago a family moved in across the road and they make more noise than all the rest of us combined. They didn't seem to notice how quiet it was here, or didn't appreciate it, I suppose.
Thanks. Some people are meant to live in the mountains, where the closest neighbor is miles away. I think there is a dangerous mix of selfishness and need to call others' attention in those people who are loud and need the rest of the stret to know that they are doing something. They must suffer some kind of arrested development/overcompensation issue, which they manage to turn into a family estate that can be passed on from generation to generation.
Ironically, those who abuse their neighbors tend to be very protective and agressive when they feel threatened (and "threatened" for them tends to be a very slippery concept, as in: Me: "Your tree is destroying my roof."-- Neighbor:"Are you threatening us?").
You summed that up very well!
Good man. The world needs more people like you and less like your neighbors. Good luck pruning the trees.
Thanks. There was a time when our laws and law enforcement agencies were simpler and more efficient. That helps educate those who tend to think only about themselves. Just one call and someone from the major's office would come, evaluate, and order the inmediate cutting of the tree. They had the personnel and the equipment.
Now we have more laws, more complications, more redtape, less equipment, less common sense, more irresponsible citizens.
I can relate to this. I almost spend all day at my aunt's house and we have the same problem. The mango tree in the house next door has grown so tall and when it's windy days, mangos fell to the zinc roof all the time.
Oh, boy. That's a pain in the ass. The funny thing is that some neighbors, also affected by the tree are so content with the occasional mango they can eat that they'd rather have their roofs shattered. That's the level of idiocy we have here.
I agree. Here, all the neighbors are alert and when there is a noise on the roof, they already know it's mangoes and they want to climb on the roof.
That's a tough spot to be in for sure! I'm glad you didn't keep waiting for the neighbors kids to finally do it and did it yourself. It's not great but we do what we have to do. We did the same this past summer with the lake house of one of our family members. They weren't in any shape to keep the property up so it fell to shambles. The neighbor on one side was in an equally challenging place so we just did our work and trimmed everything around, not waiting around for permission. We didn't get too aggressive on the neighbors stuff since it was their property, not ours, but we took down everything on the fence and what touched our area.
Then in the condo complex we live in (much rather a house but that's another story lol) there was this giant evergreen bush that was literally overgrowing onto the walking path. So much so that the grass next to the path now has a permanent section of dirt with everyone just walking through the grass instead of risking impalement on the path. Our son and I had enough when I got hit in the face trying to keep an eye on him so we got some clippers and took out over 100 branches off the damn thing. The worst part is we pay, part of our fees, a landscaping company to clean this type of shit up! It's insane how incompetent people are when it comes to these basic things. Just keep kicking the can to the next person instead of taking care of it.
Hey, man.
Thanks for stopping by
I am really surprised at the fact that it looks like no matter the country, the system, the laws or regulations, we'll always have irresponsible people"kicking the can" as you say, so that others do their part.
I dream with the day every person here takes responsibility at least for their areas (front-yard and/or back-yard). I guess it will take some punitive measures to re-educate them all.
I have had very ugly arguments with people who do not even appreciate when you walk the extra mile and, for instance cut the branch that is hitting people's face because it invaded the sidewalk area. They have come to me accusing me of tree-hater or something like that.
It's hard to continue being a social animal in this environment.
You guys take care
Different plants, same story, no matter where on earth. I distinguish not by where people are born but by asshole or not an asshole. Good that you took matters in your own hands, in the end that is the way to go and as long as they don't get angry for doing so I think it should give you some peace knowing that this matter is gone, at least for now. You provided a better home for your family and that's what counts.:)
Thanks. You are right. I think idiocy and social irresponsibility has no nationality, or has rather been globalized, I guess
For some reason it is in our genetics. I often wonder what went wrong with us lol.
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