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A few years ago, when my uncle traveled to an Asian country to study his masters, he shared a striking experience with me. He said that throughout his stay there he didn't know his neighbors, and I was left perplexed. How is that even possible? I asked
He went further to explain that the people there always mind their businesses; they prioritize their personal space, and sometimes you get the silence response when you greet some people.
However, the case is different in most places in Nigeria; either you are on your neighbors faces or they are on yours.
Here in Nigeria, we inherently look out for some of our neighbors, either consciously or unconsciously. Sometimes, when we notice the absence of a neighbor, even if we don't always interact, we still ask other people, "Is that person okay? I haven't seen them for awhile."
I leave in a quiet neighborhood; you hardly see people in the street except for mornings where people are going to their work place and kids going to school, and then evenings when people are returning back home.
I don't really interact with anyone in my street apart from the normal greetings when I see them on the way.
The people I get to interact with more often are the people in my compound.
There are six flats in my compound, but I interact with people from three different flats more.
My compound has a mix of different characters: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
I have a nosy neighbor, but I won't be talking about her because I have made a post about her before.
In most compounds, there's usually this early person that looks out for almost everyone. So we have this elderly woman in my compound who everyone calls her mummy.
Mummy is very nice and often looks out for me. I have noticed that she's usually intentional about me. I don't know if it's because we are of the same tribe or if it's because I am her younger sister's name sake.
I remember on two different occasions that I fell sick and my husband was not at home; Mummy was my to-go emergency number.
I called her immediately, and before you could say Jack, she was already in my flat, and she took every good care of me. She's always checking up on me.
She has turned to my compound mom.
Then I have a beggarly next-door neighbor. The grace for begging was sufficiently poured on her.
I have heard people say they have neighbors that beg a lot, but I didn't really understand.
My next-door neighbor corporately begs for everything; it all started with her begging me one time that she had a lot of dirty clothes and didn't have the strength to wash them all, that could she please use my washing machine, and I agreed.
Before I knew it, I became my shopping plug; whenever she needs anything, she comes to my place.
She's not your regular neighbor that asks for salt; she begs for anything and everything you could think of; she would ask for something like yam, beans, bread, oil, cooked food, etc.
But she did something this big sallah that just passed; she gave me three pieces of miserable boney meat and an annoying-looking chin chin.
I just smiled and told my husband that I would deal with her this Christmas. I will not give her the usual I use to give to her; apart from food, I give her pepper soup, small chops, chin chin, and different drinks, but this Christmas I will reciprocate what she gave me. December is not too far again.
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