Don’t Judge

Image: Boaz Yiftach / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We have new neighbors just across the street from us. I happen to live in a rather tight knit community. We know just about everyone and it’s one of those communities where we all wave, and stop to chat with one another while out for walks. Anyway, my next door neighbor was very suspicious of these new folks because there seemed to be a lot of young men on bicycles wandering in and out of this house. So he called the cops and asked them to keep an eye on the house, which they said they’d do.

Today, my son and I came home from the store to see a little girl about his age riding a bike on the street in front of the house. Of course he wanted to introduce himself, so as soon as the groceries were put away, we went over.  Turns out this is a nice family that just moved in. I met the grandpa too. They are museum goers and have a teenage son who has a friend hang out with him. His biggest concern was that 2 days after they moved in, they got an alert from the state sex offenders list saying a sex offender moved in a couple of houses down from us (the offender must be a relative of the nice older couple that lives in that house) and he was wondering if it was a boarding house or something. He was under the impression that our neighborhood wasn’t very safe, so they were thinking about moving.  

Needless to say, these folks are regular law abiding folks just trying to raise a family in a safe neighborhood. And my other neighbor thought they just didn’t look right and might have been a threat. What is really funny is that these new folks are A LOT like the neighbor that called the cops to keep an eye on the new folks.

The point is that while it’s good to be cautious, always take the time to find out if your suspicions are valid. After all, when I first moved into the neighborhood, my stalker hired a private detective to find me and that caused all my new neighbors to think I was a low life engaged in a medical fraud. We laugh about that now because, it turns out, I’m rather nice.

So don’t judge people. (And yes, I am going to check the offenders list right after I get this post done)