The single storey house neighbour on my right is very funny. When we first bought the land on which to build our house, the wife hailed us and invited us over to her place to tour her house. During the tour, she showed me a water pipe which had burst when the cluster housing development behind her house was being built. She said that the water bill from the burst pipe was about $2000.
Shortly after I started building my house, her husband approached me with a water bill of about $2000+, saying that my soil works had caused his water pipe to burst. I looked at the date. It was dated about 6 months before I had even demolished the old structure, let alone move soil. I politely and firmly told him that his wife had shown me the burst pipe months before I had even demolished the old house. They backed off.
After I moved in, I kept a polite and smiling distance. I don't understand why people see smiling as friendly. When I smile at you, I may not be friendly. They smile at me, but they tried make false claims on me too. Nope... decidedly not friendly, despite the broad smiles.
Like hyenas, you know. They smile before they eat you.
After the government closed up the open drains, all the households along my street gained a small strip of planter with soil in front of our houses. Since I only grow edibles, I filled my planter with kangkong, gotu kola, purslane, sweet potato leaves, chilli and basil. The neighbour's helper would cut my kangkong and my gotu kola in their prime. At first, when my helper told me, I did nothing. I thought these were just a few leaves, and I left the issue unresolved for weeks. M resorted to cutting back the kangkong and the gotu kola before their prime harvest size. The neighbour's helper still beat her to the harvest.
Then, I promised my friend that I would make gotu kola powder for her. I inspected my gotu kola and told myself that I would harvest and process the fresh leaves the next day. I woke up early. I went out with my scissors. Lo and behold... someone had taken it all. There was none left for me. I was upset. So, I told my neighbour that our CCTV footage shows that her helper had been helping herself to my veggies without asking. I advised her to control her helper before I gave the footage to the police. I also smilingly reminded her that I had given her family 2 bags of vegetables the week before. Smilingly, we both agreed that her helper should not help herself to my plants as and when she liked.
The stealing stopped too.
Then, the neighbour planted a curry tree an inch or 2 within my side of the planter. Since it was only an inch or 2, I decided to let it go. It won't make her wealthy beyond her wildest dreams to gain a few square inches of gardening space. M decided to plant sweet potato leaves under the tree. It was, M thought, a nice compromise. The curry tree grew high up in the air. Her sweet potato leaves would carpet the ground. The neighbour erected a small wooden fence using bamboo stakes to prevent my sweet potato leaves from going over to her planter. I don't see why she should have worried?
(1) I did not begrudge her an extra few square inches of planter.
(2) I was quite disciplined about pruning back my sweet potato leaves.
(3) I had never stolen from her.
I am not sure how it works in that brain of hers. Why is she so insecure that she will take what is not hers at every turn? Why is she so insecure that after laying claim to a few square inches of land that is rightfully mine, she must erect a fence to block out a few sweet potato leaves crawling on the ground? I mean, she was the one who tried to cream me of $2000+ for a burst pipe that she should know was not my fault. She was the one who claimed more than her share of garden space. She was the one who took my vegetables, without asking. I should be afraid of her and insecure, but I am not because these are all small things.
I have never intruded on her rights and her personal boundaries.
Maybe, she thinks that I am like her, out to scavenge what is not mine, like a hyena. I am not going to be like her. I want to be a wolf. I hunt/grow what is mine, not scavenge what I did not myself hunt/grow.
If she had asked, I would be so happy to give her armfuls of veggies. I have too much. She never asked. She just took.
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