TMI
I do not know what types of vehicles my neighbors drive. Why this finally occurred to me after living here thirteen years or why I find it so absurd, I do not know. But it has and I do and I am not sure what it means.
I grew up in a tiny town, not much bigger than the neighborhood I live in now. Times being what they were then, I was allowed to ride my bicycle the entire length and width of the village limits alone. I used to ride by all the houses in town and I knew who was home by which vehicles I saw parked in the driveway. For the neighbors within a block or two, I knew when they should be home and always wondered where they were when their vehicle was not parked outside at the usual time.
Vehicles were a rather significant source of information in a small town. We knew someone had visitors when we did not recognize the vehicles parked in the driveway. We knew who made it to church that week, who was hanging out at the gas station, and who showed up to the school basketball games, just by driving by and looking at the vehicles in the parking lots. We knew who attended the volunteer firemen meeting, who was a Mason, and who played softball the night before without a newspaper account or hearing about it at the post office. The vehicles told us everything. They may have told us too much.
I do not know what my neighbors drive. I have quiet neighbors, for the most part, and I know a few of them by sight. I have no idea where any of them work, what time they should be home or whether they play softball. If any of them needed a lift to the supermarket or to borrow a ladder, I would gladly oblige but I can limit my relationship to helping when asked and not investing in it the rest of the time. It is a different way of living but I like it.
I will ponder whether or not I should on another day.
home, neighborhood, relationships in About My Day 
Reader Comments (2)
I know what many of my neighbors drive as I'll see them coming/going from them. It's always interesting, I also was amused to be home mid-day one time and have NO cars out front of our building...apparently we all have day jobs!
I definitely know what you mean. I have never really experienced this myself, but I know plenty of people that have the relationship with their neighbors that you are referring to in the beginning of your post. I find that I recognize the local dogs more than the people. I often know/remember their names, and not the people attached to them. I'm not sure what this says about me. I have zero idea who belongs with which vehicle in this parking area, other than my next door neighbor, and only because he parks next to me so I see him often enough. It is a strange kind of isolation. It is not something that I have picked for myself, yet it has happened all the same.
I think that as long as you are content with the situation, there is no "should" about it. :) If you decide to reach a little farther and connect a little more, well that is okay too! :)