My family and I just returned home from the annual neighborhood potluck. We met some new people, tried a lot of good food, and enjoyed some cool weather.
The Overheard Conversation
While I was in the food line (I went back for seconds on the meatballs and picked up some desserts), I heard two ladies talking to each other.
The conversation went something like this.
Lady 1: Do you know many people here tonight?
Lady 2: No, I don't recognize many people.
Lady 1: Me neither. I normally just drive down the road, pull my car into the garage, and shut the garage door.
What Is Garage Door Mentality?
Garage Door Mentality is a way to insulate yourself from the outside world (especially your neighbors).
We all know what it is like to have a long day at work. We spend 8 hours or more laboring for an honest day's wage, and all we want when we get home is to relax and spend some time with our family or friends.
There's just no extra time. After dinner and some chores, it is late evening and time to prepare for bed. We wake up in the morning and start the same schedule over again.
It is just too easy to drive your car into the garage and press the button that lowers the garage door.
Are We Missing Out?
When I lived overseas, there were no garage doors. And on top of that most people spent at least some time out and about in the neighbor from 4pm to 6pm. I kinda miss that. I really don't like the fact that I can transition straight from work to home and never have to say hi to a neighbor or wave to the people walking the street.
I don't like it that the word neighbor is more associated with nosey stranger than friendly face.
- Have we become so advanced that we don't need other people?
- Have we become so busy that we aren't willing to offer to help someone in need?
- Have we become so jaded that we only look out for ourselves?
- Have we isolated ourselves so much that we are starting to miss out on the spirit of community?
I Love My Garage Door, At Least In The Winter
The garage door is an incredible invention - so convenient. But I wonder if my desire for convenience has impacted how I engage my neighbors and community.
It is not that I don't need my neighbors - I do. But I have allowed myself to allow a motorized descending wall to build barriers. My neighbors live closer to me than my family and friends, and yet I don't know their names because I have trapped myself in my castle because of my garage door mentality.
I Want To Hear From You
Let's continue the conversation
- Are you impacted by the garage door mentality?
- Do you know the names of your next door neighbors?
- Do you want to know your neighbors or do you prefer to stay to yourself?
Thanks for stopping by!
@SumatraNate
More About My Steem Projects
 image source: bitmoji app |
Like This Post? Upvote, Comment, Resteem Want More Like It? Follow My Steem Blog!  Learn how to format your Steem posts so that your great content looks great! |
image source: pixabayWanna Join The Best Birthday Party On The Steem Blockchain? Click here for more details! |
|
We are missing out. Personally, I'd rather know the neighbors and have good relationships with them. It can be hard when life gets going so fast, and that's part of why we are trying to slow down.
I completely agree. I appreciate the example of your family. You are prioritizing things that matter most. My family makes a lot of our decisions to take back valuable time and build strong relationships, but it is hard when a lot of the people we live among do not value the same things.
we just send our kids over to break the ice...they usually ring the door bell four or five times - and the response when the door is opened is a pretty good indicator of if we are going to be friends or not...
We have done this on a few occasions. If a neighbor is a bit snippy with the kids then it is a good sign that they are not interested in developing a more meaningful relationship.
I've made it a point to get to know the neighbors. It sometimes takes a while. I didn't find out until recently that I already knew two people on my block from previous business transactions. I just don't see them that often. I still haven't talked to one of them even though I've lived in the neighborhood for over a year and I'm out and about quite a bit.
I do think cars keep us from connecting with people immediately around us. Right now our family doesn't have a car. One of the things that I like about it is that I see lots of people in my area while I'm out walking. And also, because I'm out walking, people see me even if they are in their cars. I think our neighborhoods would be better if people intentionally got out and walked around or did short errands on foot, even if they own a car. That's just my perspective on it.
I was blaming garage doors but not giving enough credit to cars regarding the disconnect I keep seeing. Where I live the public transportation system is practically non-existent. I am curious what you consider to be a short errand.
What size of a city do you live in? Do you feel that your city is set up well for walking/biking/public transportation?
I live in a city of about 50 thousand people. There is public transportation... but I never take it. I walk everywhere and ride my bike sometimes. City sidewalks are fairly good for walking. They are trying to make streets more bicycle friendly.
I dont have garage and I knew the whole village even of 4 sides neighbor village :D, we live in community and that is the nicest thing about living in country side
I had same experience when I work in the city, working at 7.30 am and going back home at 7 pm, almost none of them I knew. it is not because how busy we are, but mostly about our limited communal activity. the only way to know each other is by having a communal activity like charity or so. that will help us to know each of our neighbor much better. but it will be difficult if we stay in busy worker environment @sumatranate. I dont like to stay in the place which has no socialization among others.
the funny thing is, we knew the people thousands mile away from home from social media then our 10 meter neighborhood. We simply ignore them and focus on our tab or smart phone screen at all day. What I noticed in our community right now is some strange thing when friends are sitting at the same table of coffee shop but rarely talking to each other, because hands are busy with chatting with someone far away. that is no really good sign of socialization of digital era...:D
I am glad that you know so many people in your community. That is cool! Are you talking about living in Medan? It is such a large city.
I agree that having shared activities with our neighbors helps us grow closer as people. It is hard work, but worth the effort. As always thank you for sharing. I agree that it is odd that we are sitting at the table with "real people" but talking to our "digital friends" on our phones.
nampaknya apa yang anda rindukan ada ditempat saya, kami semua salin mengenal dekat satu sama lain, kami saling membantu, saling menghibur, walaupun disegi material kami jauh dari kemajuan tapi kami sangat menikmati segala keterbatasan kami, budaya saling mengunjungi tetangga disini telah menjadi bagian kehidupan kami
Hal-hal material bukan yang paling penting. Keluarga kita adalah berkat yang paling baik. Satu hal dari Indonesia yang indah bagiku adalah tetangga saling peduli.
Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by sumatranate from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the
If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.
Hi @sumatranate!
Your UA account score is currently 4.005 which ranks you at #3445 across all Steem accounts.
Your rank has improved 8 places in the last three days (old rank 3453).Your post was upvoted by @steem-ua, new Steem dApp, using UserAuthority for algorithmic post curation!
In our last Algorithmic Curation Round, consisting of 361 contributions, your post is ranked at #34.
Evaluation of your UA score:
Feel free to join our @steem-ua Discord server