I am beginning to understand the reluctance of
Americans to wear facial masks to protect themselves and others in the Covid
era. We have heard enough about the
American 'individualism' and I have seen it in action in my own
neighborhood. I live in the West Side of
Buffalo, New York, a neighborhood defined by houses and an occasional small
apartment building. The houses which
often were once single family homes are usually broken up into apartments and I
live in one of three in a home built in the early 1900’s.
Having
lived in densely populated cities like New York and Barcelona, I am surprised
at how there is very little sense of sharing space and living together. My downstairs neighbor is a case in point. When she and her husband first moved in, they
threw out some of the belongings I had in the basement, wrongly assuming that
every space is theirs. They put up a
fire pit and bird feeders. When I photographed
photos of rats eating at the feeder and requested she take it down, she lost
control and screamed that I was ruining her home. Her home?
Rats? We are all in it together
in a rental. Not to mention the endless
smell of marijuana wafting up from her apartment into mine as early as 8 in the morning. I have diffusers and candles (soy, of course) set up in all corners to mask the skunk like smell.
The
second case is the neighbor whose property is directly behind where we
live. She set up beehives on a
platform. As one friend pointed out,
they are as far from her home and as close to mine as possible. I pointed out to her that the bees are aggressive
and that in a city beehives may not be ideal.
I was uanble to sit in my yard and was chased indoors by one.
She is bringing in another. I told
her the bees could kill someone who is allergic. We have a two week old baby on the other side
of the property who could be vulnerable. The same downstairs
neighbors (of the bird feeder dilemma) said the bees fly around their
apartment. Why should we all adapt to
her schedule of feeding and cleaning the hives when we have to stay inside
while she is in her protective gear? There is no give and take here.
So
where is the concern for the greater good?
I don’t like to lump bees in the same category as rats but in an urban
area they can cause problems. The same
concept applies to masks. Can’t you just
put one on for the sake of those around you?
Be considerate of those around you and hopefully, we can all live
together.
