Gossip? Not At All...
Whenever my husband wanders across the street to speak with one of our neighbours I know I'm going to be entertained later. Advised, in any event, of occurrences on our street that neither of us had any idea of. Why we aren't ourselves aware of these things is quite beyond me. Other than, truly, we aren't all that concerned, or interested, or invested in knowing things about our good neighbours that would tend to make us think less of them.
But there it is, somehow there's always the opportunity to catch up. Mostly because one of our neighbours, sharper and more obviously intelligent than most, is also given to unburdening herself of information she has obtained, to us via her conversations with my husband. She's younger far than I am, and very attractive, an industrious, hard-working woman, with two children herself, one adult, the other approaching his teens.
I like it when my husband speaks with her, and when he does, it's always at length. It's good for him to have friendly and in-depth conversations with other people and I've never begrudged him the opportunity to do that. With any of our neighbours with whom we're more than passing friendly, and this one is no exception. It's an antidote to our closeness. And it's thanks to her we're made aware of various types of familial dramas that have us catching our breath with disbelief.
Better not to think too deeply about these things; it's human nature at work again. I wonder sometimes why it is that such a well-spoken and clever woman imparts these things, but some, I imagine, despite their level of intelligence are given to gossip. The funny thing is, she holds herself apart from our other neighbours; it is only toward us that she is friendly, finding things in common to speak of, one imagines.
We're never able to respond in kind, but we do discuss many other items of mutual interest from politics to situations unfolding in various parts of the world. She's knowledgeable and adept at holding her own through stimulating conversation. The latest news we've been treated to, shouldn't surprise, but it does, anyway. This neighbour lives at the very corner of our halfway-turned street, directly across from us. From her upstairs windows she has an eye on the world of our street's happenings.
She it was who informed us that a neighbour living directly across from her as the street turns, was making out with a friend of his wife, in their garage, into which she had a bird's eye view. And it was shortly thereafter that the break-up occurred. It was she who informed us that the older man married to the young Cuban 'dancer' with whom he shared two very young children, threw his wife out of the house for her unabashed dalliances in his frequent absences from home.
The latest concerns two other families; one the woman of which operates her own "lifestyles" course for people who don't know how to make the most of their lives. The other works for a charitable organization, an NGO, working out of South America, where she often visits as duty calls. The first family has an adopted boy of impaired intelligence, now 20. The second has three little girls and a 15-year-old boy born of a Guatemalan father, no longer with them. They're beautiful children, well-behaved and with a demonstrated and lively interest in everything.
The lifestyles guru is grossly overweight, leaves her son to wander in the neighbourhood where he will, to look for comfort and support where he can find it. He has limited intelligence but has learned how he may successfully manipulate people through their sense of conscience in dealing with such a one as he, who will never leave childhood and plays with youngsters half his age when they're not scorning and taunting him.
The neighbourhood children have been cautioned to be friendly with him, but not too friendly. A schoolchum of our gossipy neighbour is a particular friend of her younger boy. Making her aware, through her conversations with his parents that the 20-year-old has inveigled himself into the inner sanctum of that home, inviting himself to dinners and late nights, much to the distress of the parents and their child who actually detests him.
They find themselves, shy and retiring as they are, incapable of sending him home, so accept his unwanted presence in silent misery. His parents seem to find nothing amiss in the situation. Never seemed concerned at his absence, never go looking for him to call him home for dinner. Stress built to a level that the young boy finally blurted out his immense dislike for the 20-year-old, who, in response, became violent, as he has been known to do.
After striking the younger child, in a fit of ill temper he strode home in high dudgeon, informing his parents that he had been ill done by. His father stormed down the street to the home of the child, where the adults were out, the child at home alone. The frightened boy refused to answer the door, but hadn't taken the precaution of locking it.
In strode the angry father, all the while calling the boy, insisting that he must speak with him, and he hunted the little boy upstairs to his bedroom where he cowered. The angry father put a lock on the boy's neck and threatened to wring it if he ever repeated his obnoxious behaviour to his poor backward son again.
As relates to the second family, the fifteen-year-old boy has also had kindly relations with the 20-year-old. He is reputed to have given the older boy with the limited intelligence money so he could buy a case of beer for them to take into our nearby ravine. Where both boys were discovered, in a state of inebriation, having imbibed to their hearts' content, and becoming bilious as a result.
In this neighbourhood, middle-class, well-adjusted, brimming with lively children, never a dull moment.
But there it is, somehow there's always the opportunity to catch up. Mostly because one of our neighbours, sharper and more obviously intelligent than most, is also given to unburdening herself of information she has obtained, to us via her conversations with my husband. She's younger far than I am, and very attractive, an industrious, hard-working woman, with two children herself, one adult, the other approaching his teens.
I like it when my husband speaks with her, and when he does, it's always at length. It's good for him to have friendly and in-depth conversations with other people and I've never begrudged him the opportunity to do that. With any of our neighbours with whom we're more than passing friendly, and this one is no exception. It's an antidote to our closeness. And it's thanks to her we're made aware of various types of familial dramas that have us catching our breath with disbelief.
Better not to think too deeply about these things; it's human nature at work again. I wonder sometimes why it is that such a well-spoken and clever woman imparts these things, but some, I imagine, despite their level of intelligence are given to gossip. The funny thing is, she holds herself apart from our other neighbours; it is only toward us that she is friendly, finding things in common to speak of, one imagines.
We're never able to respond in kind, but we do discuss many other items of mutual interest from politics to situations unfolding in various parts of the world. She's knowledgeable and adept at holding her own through stimulating conversation. The latest news we've been treated to, shouldn't surprise, but it does, anyway. This neighbour lives at the very corner of our halfway-turned street, directly across from us. From her upstairs windows she has an eye on the world of our street's happenings.
She it was who informed us that a neighbour living directly across from her as the street turns, was making out with a friend of his wife, in their garage, into which she had a bird's eye view. And it was shortly thereafter that the break-up occurred. It was she who informed us that the older man married to the young Cuban 'dancer' with whom he shared two very young children, threw his wife out of the house for her unabashed dalliances in his frequent absences from home.
The latest concerns two other families; one the woman of which operates her own "lifestyles" course for people who don't know how to make the most of their lives. The other works for a charitable organization, an NGO, working out of South America, where she often visits as duty calls. The first family has an adopted boy of impaired intelligence, now 20. The second has three little girls and a 15-year-old boy born of a Guatemalan father, no longer with them. They're beautiful children, well-behaved and with a demonstrated and lively interest in everything.
The lifestyles guru is grossly overweight, leaves her son to wander in the neighbourhood where he will, to look for comfort and support where he can find it. He has limited intelligence but has learned how he may successfully manipulate people through their sense of conscience in dealing with such a one as he, who will never leave childhood and plays with youngsters half his age when they're not scorning and taunting him.
The neighbourhood children have been cautioned to be friendly with him, but not too friendly. A schoolchum of our gossipy neighbour is a particular friend of her younger boy. Making her aware, through her conversations with his parents that the 20-year-old has inveigled himself into the inner sanctum of that home, inviting himself to dinners and late nights, much to the distress of the parents and their child who actually detests him.
They find themselves, shy and retiring as they are, incapable of sending him home, so accept his unwanted presence in silent misery. His parents seem to find nothing amiss in the situation. Never seemed concerned at his absence, never go looking for him to call him home for dinner. Stress built to a level that the young boy finally blurted out his immense dislike for the 20-year-old, who, in response, became violent, as he has been known to do.
After striking the younger child, in a fit of ill temper he strode home in high dudgeon, informing his parents that he had been ill done by. His father stormed down the street to the home of the child, where the adults were out, the child at home alone. The frightened boy refused to answer the door, but hadn't taken the precaution of locking it.
In strode the angry father, all the while calling the boy, insisting that he must speak with him, and he hunted the little boy upstairs to his bedroom where he cowered. The angry father put a lock on the boy's neck and threatened to wring it if he ever repeated his obnoxious behaviour to his poor backward son again.
As relates to the second family, the fifteen-year-old boy has also had kindly relations with the 20-year-old. He is reputed to have given the older boy with the limited intelligence money so he could buy a case of beer for them to take into our nearby ravine. Where both boys were discovered, in a state of inebriation, having imbibed to their hearts' content, and becoming bilious as a result.
In this neighbourhood, middle-class, well-adjusted, brimming with lively children, never a dull moment.
Labels: Social-Cultural Deviations, Whoops
posted by Pieface @ 6:07 PM
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