2/9/20 Neighbors

2/9/20
Neighbors
by Holly Winter


An older woman by two decades rearranged her produce on the counter at Adams grocery store so I could get my groceries out of my hands. I thanked her for her kindness.

She looked at what I was buying and said, "You're going to make garlic cauliflower."

I laughed and told her she was right, even though she wasn't. I've never been particular about who's right and who isn't right.

While she was checking out she asked the young man bagging groceries if the puma on his t-shirt was for a sports team.

He very politely told her that the puma was for a shoe brand.

She looked back at me and said, "In my time there weren't so many things to remember about sports teams."

I said something about not being able to remember sports teams, either.

She said, "I grew up in Queens, NY, on the same block as Jackie Robinson. He was my neighbor."

I perked up. "That must have been so cool, to watch a neighbor become the most talented ball player in the world."

"That's why he became so great," she said. "because he knew he had the neighborhood behind him, caring about him."

I said something about how cool that must have been, to have a community of people caring.

She stood and talked for a minute about the neighborhoods of long ago, then left.

I asked the two young men if they knew who Jackie Robinson was. The cashier turned towards the register and busied himself. The bagger said, "Yeah. I know who he is. I'm into baseball."

I thanked them as I gathered up my food, thinking about neighborhoods and how people care about those who live next to them. I barely know my neighbors where I live, though we do text from time to time important things like, "I got a piece of your mail, again. I put it into your box." or "I'm leaving for six weeks. Here's my sister's phone number in case something goes wrong with my house."

When I grew up, if someone new moved into the neighborhood, it was a cause for celebration. My mother always baked a cake that we children would deliver, hoping the new neighbors had unpacked a knife to serve it so we might share it with them.

We were constantly borrowing a cup of sugar from a neighbor or talking about the weather or worrying about the water running out due to the lack of rain.

Housing has changed in the past fifty years and there are more people living on smaller lots, so neighbors are often taken for granted and/or seen as a nuisance for their loud car or crying children. I Wondered what children today are missing out on, by not living in a caring community.

I thanked the boys for helping me buy my cauliflower, and the bagger said, "What a day, meeting someone who knew Jackie Robinson!"

Maybe it's ok that we're taken by different things, me by a sence of community and the bagger by a sense of fame.

Whatever we think, time continues to march forward.