Thursday 28 August 2008

Neighbourliness

Last night, I was having trouble with the main door again. This time, my old method wouldn't work. The door simply refused to shut no matter how I tried to adjust the knobs. I decided to dismantle the door opener once and for all. There I was, high up on my wooden stool struggling to loosen the screws (and thinking of summoning CH over) when my next door neighbour came walking past.

We've met a couple of times and in our short exchange, discovered that we're both avid runners. There he was, walking towards his main door in his office attire, carrying bags of groceries when he saw me perched on the chair with my door ajar. He asked, "How was last Sunday's (army half-marathon) run?"

Looking totally distracted, I managed a quick reply."Emm, it was ok." Then I blurted out, "Hey, I may need your help", feeling embarrassed right after that.

I'm sure at that point, he must be wondering what kind of a neighbour he had landed. Still the gentleman said, "Sure, but let me put these groceries away first" and disappeared into his house where his wife and new born baby were waiting.

He emerged later and I explained I was trying to dismantle the door opener but found myself in need of a screwdriver with a square head. He brought out a bunch of allan keys but none could fit.

I was desperately trying to make him understand that my door wouldn't shut anymore, that's why I had to resort to such drastic measures. As I demonstrated my 'old' method, the door suddenly closed properly.

Oh wow. Problem solved. He could go home have his dinner and I could go to sleep with the door locked. He must be thinking, "What a strange neighbour..."

I'm going to call the hardware store now and get a new one installed once and for all.

5 comments:

The Real Mother Hen said...

That's what neighbors are for.

Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022) said...

Gee, what nice neighbours you have. You know what mine are like :D

Amel said...

Wahhhh...hope your door's fixed soon then! Glad you have nice neighbours! ;-D

The World According To Me said...

Where's a square head screw driver when you need it?!

He sounds a nice friendly neighbour. Better than Nicks!
But I hope you get a new door installed soon.

WaterLearner said...

I am glad you get good neighbours. I live in a point block. With three other families. Two of them tend to be rather quiet and keep to themselves. I am glad that the Malay family just opposite me is a warm and cheerful family. We often exchange greetings when we bump onto one another usually during the weekends. They are a family of cycling fanatics. So I would ask them about their cycling adventure and they would ask about my running and my hub's scouting adventures.

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