The recent storm that created so much damage, and left thousands of people without power, followed by the days of cold weather, was a good reminder that we all need an emergency plan. It was also a good reminder to get to know your neighbors, if you don’t already.
Even the smallest of storms result in clogged roads and highways in the greater Puget Sound region, making commutes hours long, or altogether impossible. So when a big storm hits, or an earthquake, or any other calamity, and we are at work, or out shopping, or whatever, we must assume it’s going to be even more difficult, and take even longer to reach home. Which is where knowing your neighbors becomes extremely important. Neighbors, and even entire neighborhoods, can work on emergency plans together.
Knowing that help can be a long time in coming in an emergency, we need to watch out for one another, whether single parents, or our elderly or disabled neighbors who live alone. Don’t assume that an older person who lives alone is a “loner” by choice, or is, in fact, living “independently.” Introduce yourself and let them know that neighbors in your area are the kind to check up on each other, just to make sure everything is OK. The upcoming holidays make for a perfect opportunity to introduce yourself to your neighbors if you don’t know them. Cookies or other proffered treats can make even awkward introductions easier.
“The biggest barrier is just a perception that we should not be involved,” Keith Hampton, associate professor of communications at Rutgers University told the Chicago Tribune in 2012. “We fear having people intrude in our lives, but we also have to recognize … (the) risk in not knowing the people around you.”
The benefits of knowing your neighbors include perks to your mental, emotional and physical health. At its best, such connections can turn into true friendship. At its most basic, neighbors can look out for each other’s houses when someone is away, or keep an extra house key for you. Knowing someone by name means when the power goes out, you can cross the street and ask Mrs. Rogers if she is OK.
The late Jane Jacobs, who wrote the book, “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” observed: “In real life, only from the ordinary adults of the city sidewalks do children learn — if they learn it at all — the first fundamental of successful city life: People must take a modicum of public responsibility for each other even if they have no ties to each other.”
It’s called community, and neighborliness.
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