Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.
Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.
Toronto is a big place, but most people shop for groceries and do other errands in their own neighbourhoods when possible. I mean, why drive, walk, or take public transit for an hour when you can pop by the corner store two minutes away for most things instead? It only makes sense.
This means that you tend to see a lot of the same folks over and over again while buying groceries, doing laundry, or going to the post office even though there are millions of people in this city.
The neighbour I’m talking about today is someone I generally see out and about a few times a week. She’s a short, friendly, talkative, and energetic woman who is probably in her early 70s by now.
If there’s a problem with our elevators or some other neighbourhood news, she will not only already know about it but also may have insider information about what really happened.
Here’s the most interesting thing about her to me, though: she treats everyone just a little like they’re her own kids or grandkids. If you didn’t know the backstory, you’d think she had a gigantic multicultural and multiracial family because of how diverse Toronto is and how many different types of people she’s taken under her wing, so to speak. She loves everyone.
If you’re coughing, she will fuss over you and tell you to stay warm and get better.
If your coat isn’t thick enough for the cold weather in her opinion, she’ll want to know where you’re going and if you have mittens and a hat with you.
If you got a great deal at the local pharmacy or grocery store, she wants to know what’s on sale!
I don’t get the sense that she means to be overbearing with these comments as she won’t press the matter if you tell her you’ve already seen a doctor, or that you’re not going outside in this cold weather, or similar explanations.
If anything, she seems a little lonely to me. I like our occasional moments of small talk.
When I’m missing my mom (who lives far away from here and who I don’t get to see as often as I’d like to), I can get a little taste of having a mom fuss over me for a minute just by talking to that friendly neighbour. It’s kind of sweet.
Ah, Lydia she sounds like such a kind lady. I know a few like that, mostly friends of my nanna who check in every now and then since she’s been gone. They’re always looking after us in the same way my nanna would. I’m so happy you have a neighbour like that! 🙂
Thank you. She’s a gem! I’m glad you have someone like her in your life, too.
When the world feels so bleak there are kind and caring people out there. The lady sound like she has a big heart for everyone.
She sure does!
It’s nice that you can have that experience in such a big place as Toronto, but it’s surrendered less to sprawl than other cities, I think?
Yes, it sure has. It’s not perfect, but we do have some great density and are adding more condos and apartment buildings and stuff to less dense areas, too.
So very nice to have neighbors like that! We’ve gotten to know a couple of our neighbors, and it’s been extremely rewarding.
That’s awesome!
She sounds very endearing!
My neighbour is just like that! Because I’m in the habit of opening my windows this morning, when one day I woke up late and rushed out without doing so, she texted me to ask whether I was ok, perhaps thinking I was so ill that I was still in bed with curtains closed.
Another time, I was out and hadn’t locked the door, which threw itself wide open, and she found my parents online and phoned them! This was also such a good thing to do, and she and her husband have been supportive when I’ve had tradesmen round in a way that might disrupt their house.
When I first moved in, three women from the street happened to be chatting in the street. I spoke to them and introduced myself as the buyer; when one asked whether I intended to live there or rent it out, I said I’m living there and she said ‘Thank God for that’. Later I found that this is because the old owners were negligent and rented it to bad tenants. So, while I’m a fairly average neighbour, I still have a lot of goodwill because they all know that it could be a lot worse!