wrote:
jmcquown wrote:
The woman left for a year and came back. That's reason enough not
to think she is terrified of her husband.

As for speculation, I don't know my neighbors other than to say
"hi". But I know their comings and goings. I know the husband next
door comes home with a small cooler every day, which leads me to
*speculate* he takes his lunch and works in an environment that
requires his lunch to be kept insulated - as in, he works outdoors.
(He's also not wearing a suit & tie; more like jeans and a flannel
shirt.)

I know the neighbor across the way is ditzy. She knocks on my door
every few days to borrow my phone because her car won't start and
she doesn't have a phone of her own. I know she stands outside
waiting for the ride she called to pick her up when she could just
as easily go inside and watch out the window. Lord knows they honk
loudly enough when they come to pick her up.

It behooves one to get to know the comings and goings of the
neighbors around you. You don't have to invite them in for coffee
and cake or even to be on a first name basis with them. I'm not a
snoop but I like to know what is going on around me. I feel safer
that way and I also know when someone who doesn't seem to 'belong'
is around. Maybe I'm paranoid, but as a single female who lives
alone, better safe than sorry.

Jill
We lived in a deteriorating neighborhood like Kili describes once.
And,
like her, it wasn't that way when we bought our house. I never wanted
to socialize with the neighbors for sure, but I did make an effort to
get to know what kind of people they were. After all, they had kids
that my kids were exposed to.
Just from that experience, when there is a weirdly high number of cars
coming and going, particularly at night, there is a good chance of
drug trafficking going on. And Lord knows, that *is* everybody's
business.

Sherry

I concur. My last apartment complex was very nice when I moved in. It was
a gated community and everyone was nice... for a while. Then things started
to go downhill. It was a gradual decline, mind you. I thought the woman
and her son who moved in across the hall were perfectly fine. Until one day
I came home and found them hurriedly packing up and vamoosed. A couple of
days later, I was watching TV, minding my own business when I heard *CRASH*
and looked out the peep-hole to find three people kicking in the door across
the way. Apparently they'd been dealing drugs and crossed someone the wrong
way. (Yes, I called the cops and yes, they caught and arrested the people -
who claimed not to speak English - and were bailed out and never seen in
court.)

After that, a young couple moved in. No visible means of support. Okay,
that's not really a factor. What *was* a factor was they had visitors all
hours of the day and night who only stayed 10-20 minutes, tops. And they
drove a brand new Mazda but didn't seem to have jobs.

I liked to sit on my balcony after work and read. One evening the guy came
out - the balconies were open to the breezeway by the stairs - with a gun in
his hand. He said they'd "gotten into it" with some people who might be
coming around to cause problems, hope I didn't mind that he had a pistol?
Ahem. Hell yeah I mind! What happened to the peaceful apartment complex I
moved into?

I started looking for another apartment the next week. No way was I getting
caught up in this crap. Cost me an extra $200 a month in rent to make move,
which I could barely afford, but my life and peace of mind is worth more
than that.

Jill