It's a shame.

I find it interesting that neighbors know little about each other. Maybe it's that we tend to go our own ways. And we like privacy. I'm more likely to cultivate contact with total strangers in my travels around the world than I am to become acquainted with my neighbors. I'm far more observant and curious when I'm living in Italy than when I'm at home in Minnesota. It shouldn't necessarily be that way. I routinely pass by people living within a half-mile radius of me. People I've seen hundreds of times. And in some instances I don't even know their names. Maybe I'm the one at fault for that. If it is a fault. Maybe Italians are the same way. My Italian true love doesn't know the names of everyone living in her building. Of course, I'm at a disadvantage. Because I speak only a limited amount of Italian. Makes it difficult to carry on a spontaneous conversation. Unless the Italian speaks English. And some do, thank gawd. My true love teaches English and English literature. Anyway, I'm gonna start thinking of my neighborhood in Forest Lake as a foreign country. But a place where we all speak a common language. And it's a shame if we don't even know each other's names. --Jim Broede