nor so wide as a church door

Some neighbor stories are sitcom material, minus the laugh track. One house, two driveways, endless chaos. The neighbors are parked like they are inventing new Tetris moves, blocking the start of the driveway and forcing episode after episode of waiting games just to get home. Even when a car finally moves, there is another one blocking the split in back or sitting smack in the middle of your precious parking spot.

The new low blows have come fast. Now they are dropping garbage on your turf, not just small things either, but three mattresses. Bulk disposal on someone else's property is peak community energy. Security cameras catch almost everything, but invisible boundaries do not seem to matter. The laundry cart incident is still fresh in the memory. One neighbor needed it, took it, and apologized in shaky translation. No harm meant, but also no warning.

Every request is met with more confusion than malice. If anyone just asked to use a spot or toss some bulk on your curb, there would be compromise and shared frustration, not silent theft and property party tricks. It is not about language. It is about basic neighbor courtesies and asking first. English, Spanish, or a phone app is fine. Mutual respect is not limited by dialect.

Family gatherings. Something we looked forward to every year as a kid, excited for all the time you were going to spend playing with your cousins, with everyone together and warm cozy vibes supported by good food and conversation.

Blissfully oblivious to the planning, the coordination, and the cost of everything. When dinner was called, all you had to do was grab a plate and dig in.

But, where did all of that food come from? Sure, Mom would get up at the crack of dawn to start the day-long process of cooking the stuffed turkey, but aside from that and the apples you peeled for apple pie, you really took all of that for granted.

If you've ever cooked a meal for four or so people, you know how much work and how expensive even a simple meal can be. (When did food get so expensive?) By the time you account for all of your extended family, numbering 10 to 20 people, it's an exorbitant cost that one person couldn't possibly shoulder. 

While you can get away with freeloading when you're a kid, by the time you're an adult-sized kid, you need to contribute beyond peeling the apples. Still, you can't just go blindsiding people with costs, especially in this economy, and just because you decided to splash out on food for the holidays doesn't mean that everyone in your family is going to be able to match you. 

Who is in the wrong here? It's hard to say, but I think the poster gets the edge on this once since she wasn't privy to the expectation of cost. Still, how much does a plate for a whole extended family cost these days? I'd be shocked if it wasn't somewhere north of $50.

Living the adult life means that, unfortunately, you can't have a "day off" from your responsibilities, least of all from your job, whenever you want. No, being an adult means that in order to have a day off, you have to request it in advance and get it approved. Sometimes it even takes months of planning just to get one day of peace and quiet. 

When the hardworking project manager in the story below decided to take one day, just one day, off work, they didn't want to be bothered whatsoever. What is the point of a day off if you have to answer calls or think about work? 

However, this manager's coworkers clearly didn't think the same way, as they had no problems texting and calling the project manager while they were away. So while this PM was having lunch with their family, after months of being devoted to their job, they had to turn their phone off just to stop it from ringing. 

When they finally called back to see what was so urgent, they were met with passive-aggressive remarks about wanting to be left alone on their day off…