good neighbors?

thegardener · July 2009

I need a reality check here.
Yesterday I took a really good, hard fall on the sidewalk, right in front of my neighbor. She was in front of her house, with her kids on the sidewalk, with lots of toys and stuff all around, and I fell on a large crayon and another thing I think.

I'm not looking for a lawsuit, but geez. Wouldn't it have been nice if she inquired whether I was ok...did I need a doctor...did I need to go to the emergency room...

as it is, I'm probably going to go for a xray cause I hurt myself by falling on her stuff that was all over the sidewalk in front of her house.

brklyndoxie · July 2009

that's not cool at all.......she should have apologized, made sure you were ok, etc. I would feel awful if somebody tripped on my stuff.

opossumqueen · July 2009

How dare you step on her child's sidewalk chalk?!

I'm just kidding of course. That sucks. I would hope she would ask if you're okay or offer to help you up even if you hadn't tripped on their stuff. Too bad.

I hope you're only bruised up a bit and nothing worse.

jack krohn · July 2009

Expecting a Park Slope mother to care about anyone other than her children? You are asking for too much!

I hope that you are well.

pokersloper · July 2009

At the risk of offending some, I just don't see it as the mother's fault. The way you describe it makes me think it is just a lousy situation - just something awful that happened. I am sorry you hurt yourself and I am sorry the mother didn't seem to care, but children will play with chalk and crayons on sidewalks. The same way we look for cars when we cross the street, it should really be up to us to be aware of where we are walking on the sidewalk. About two years ago my wife got tangled up in a plastic bag that someone left right next door to our apartment and she hit the sidewalk hard. It was scary, but my wife wasn't looking, we were rushing. I don't blame my wife or the idiot who may have littered, it just was terrible situation. Several neighbors were on their stoops, not one person came over, so it goes. Hope you are okay and didn't break anything.

longtimesloper · July 2009

That is just wrong that she didn't say a word to you and pokersloper, just because the same thing happened to you doesn't make it right either, anjd, in your case, your wife was with someone already, you. This guy was alone!

What happened to being human to each other?

Oh, and jack krohn, some of us Park Slope moms do care about others

danielle123 · July 2009

A month or so ago, I was walking on Clinton St. On the sidewalk, there was a mother to the left, a woman to the right and a child on the ground and his scooter in the middle of the women. I thought that as I drew near, they would make room for me. But, no, I had to walk between the women and step gingerly over the scooter so as not to step on the scooter and/or fall. Not only did neither of the woman move to let me past, but they didn't so much as look at me as I tried to maneuver through their self-made obstacle course. I felt my anger rising and almost said something but shook it off as I didn't want my day to be ruined for a rude confrontation with self-centered jerks.

raw · July 2009

SUE.

vidro3 · July 2009

speaking of neighbors i was quite entertained by the unhinged husband and wife berating a guy whose tiny dog peed on their black wrought iron fence.

meredithb · July 2009

I've had fights with people over bad sidewalk etiquette.

winstonsmith · July 2009

vidro3 wrote: speaking of neighbors i was quite entertained by the unhinged husband and wife berating a guy whose tiny dog peed on their black wrought iron fence.

That, I like.

goodprospect · July 2009

It's not just Brooklyn -- a couple of months ago on the Upper West Side I was walking down a sidewalk as a small brigade of babysitters and children, in hand and in strollers, walking abreast and filling the entire sidewalk, approached. I also assumed they would break or move aside so I could pass by. They did not, so I stepped into a tree pit and because the earth was uneven, twisted my ankle, spraining it, fell to the ground and landed on one shoulder (cursing as I dealt with the pain and the fall). They stopped and asked if I was okay -- and when I looked up, from the ground, and said I only fell because they did not move aside, they started yelling at me for cursing in front of the children (it was a single choice word)! Jerks are in all boroughs.

domino · July 2009

Yes there are jerks in all boroughs - am sooooooo tempted to join them since I can't seem to fight them. Kid left the chalk on the sidewalk? Aww, oopsies crushed it. Kid left scooter on sidewalk? Awww, had to kick it out of my way. Too bad that mean man in the truck ran it over. As enjoyable as that momentary flight of fancy was, I will just roll my eyes, grumble about the sidewalk Assholes Anonymous meetings that I have to be subject to and move on. I will just keep believing in Karma. Maybe that mother will slip and land in some dog poo in the tree pit on the Upper West side and the brats brigade will just laugh at her.

winstonsmith · July 2009

@ Gardner:

If you call yourself a neighbor you should have said something to the Mom, not ranted on the board.

@ GoodProspect:

What if you were walking on the sidewalk in East NY at 3:15 when school let out. Would you call say a "small brigade" of minority kids filled the sidewalk and would not let you pass. Or when people leave a place of worship and block the sidewalk walk are they a "small brigade". Is the crowd in front of a bar/night club a "small brigade". When dog owners meet each other and let their pets socialize on 7th Ave is that a "small brigade"?

When people interact in public places they block the sidewalk. Expect it, deal with it, move on. It is not the end of the world

garfunky · July 2009

winstonsmith wrote: Expect it, deal with it, move on. It is not the end of the world

does this mean the poop slope site is closing ?

no ?

so its ok for crowds to knock people off the walk and then laugh at/insult them,
but if one little chihuaha shoots out a pebble turd and no one picks it up
call out the camera brigade ???

thegardener · July 2009

winstonsmith:
ranting on the board is a lot more benign and neighborly than what I really feel like telling the Mom.

The majority of my neighbors, including my fellow PS and WT residents are nice, kind, caring people. Do I expect clear, unobstructed sidewalks to walk by? Do I expect that I shouldn't have to deal with an obstacle course to get into my house? Most times, yes...sometimes it's unavoidable and I know that.

But simple human kindness and caring is not too much to ask for IMHO.

witch-king · July 2009

I think the rule of thumb in the Slope is that if you're not pushing a Maclaren Techno XT or have a pacifier in your mouth, you're persona non grata.

winstonsmith · July 2009

thegardener wrote: winstonsmith:
ranting on the board is a lot more benign and neighborly than what I really feel like telling the Mom.

The majority of my neighbors, including my fellow PS and WT residents are nice, kind, caring people. Do I expect clear, unobstructed sidewalks to walk by? Do I expect that I shouldn't have to deal with an obstacle course to get into my house? Most times, yes...sometimes it's unavoidable and I know that.

But simple human kindness and caring is not too much to ask for IMHO.

Then you neighbor is a pig. But your original post only furthered the Internet myth that Park Slope parents are uncaring of anybody but their own children.

winstonsmith · July 2009

Garfunky wrote: [quote=winstonsmith] Expect it, deal with it, move on. It is not the end of the world

does this mean the poop slope site is closing ?

no ?

so its ok for crowds to knock people off the walk and then laugh at/insult them,
but if one little chihuaha shoots out a pebble turd and no one picks it up
call out the camera brigade ???

No, it is not ok to knock people of the sidewalk and laugh at them. But I don't think that happens so much.

But it is not ok to leave any poop on the sidewalk. I think that happens much to much.

good neighbors?

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