Page 13 - BocaViewPoint - January '22

January 2022 Viewpointe, Page 13

Neighborly Is As Neighborly Does

By William A. Gralnick his hat to every female neighbor who was out and about. had a dog who I walked. I would meet in passing the many
“Evenin’ to ya!” went with the tip of the hat. others who had the same chore. And yet, we knew little
I am exploring through There were a lot of children on the block. Everyone was about one another, often not even names. I would refer to
my own perception what always in someone else’s house. We all went to the same people by the dog they owned. “I saw the guy from around
I call neighborliness. I elementary school and clumps of us walked there together. the corner with the Collie or I saw the lady with the two
read an article in the local When a family had a life cycle event, good or bad, most Bedlington Terriers (It’s the dog that looks like a small
Coral Springs newspaper everyone on the block acknowledged it in some way or lamb). I would say I’d been on the inside of only two of
(Tap In To Coral Springs) about a stranger who helped another. It was, in sum, a real neighborhood. the houses these many people lived in, maybe three. And
out a woman who was in danger of losing her house. It It seems to me that has changed and the suburbanization of those three two visited in my house. I knew little about
brought the subject to the fore once more. in America was the beginning of it. I think as the ‘50’s the people on either side of my house and nothing about
When I was a kid in Brooklyn I lived on a dead-end became the ‘60’s, the ‘60’s became the ‘70’s the increasing the guys across the street on the corner who I actually had
street that had fourteen houses. While I wouldn’t say number of women in the work force left fewer and fewer suspicions of being a Syrian spy or terrorist. (I was working
everyone was everyone’s buddy, everyone knew a lot people around during the day. The term “latch key” child at the Sheriff’s Department then. He wasn’t a spy).
about everyone else. Neighbors chatted on the street. entered the vocabulary of the sociologists. To have a We’ve moved a whole three miles to Boca Pointe and
One gentleman with four daughters would get off the conversation, at least if one is mentally stable, it takes two again live on a cul-de-sac. Again, I am referring to people
subway, stop at the Irish bar about 50 yards from where people. No longer having people home had a direct hit on by their dogs or at this stage of life, their infirmities. There
he alighted, and had a few. He intimated that’s what was neighborliness. have been two breaks in silence between neighbors, actually
needed to go home to house of five women, a cat, and a For 23 years I lived on a cul de sac in Boca Raton. I three. When we moved in the charming, grandmother
dog. When he got to the head of the street, he would tip knew way more people in the development because we to everyone next door, baked us cookies. She makes
homemade applesauce. We watch out for each other, collect
each other’s mail when one of us is away, and now we
function as old-time neighbors.
Another time when I was walking the dog I walked
past a gentleman who was pretty rocky on his pins. I later
learned he was in the hospital for over a month after open
heart surgery. One moment he was in motion towards his
car, the next he had pitched over backwards, hitting his head
on the pavement. I assisted physically and with first aide
advice. They now go out of their way to say hi and ask about
me and or the dog. For my part, I wave to everyone when
I either pass them in my car or they me in theirs. ‘seems
like a nice thing to do. I think I shame them into waving
back; most of them do. I never miss a chance to peek into
a baby carriage or pet someone else’s dog. This is mostly
the doing of my dog who gets insulted if he’s not given due
attention. He seeks it out. He is a “blow in my ear, follow
you anywhere” dog.
Sometimes amazing things happen. A caretaker who is
in love with my dog, hailed us down. She was pushing a
wheelchair. She wanted to introduce me to the woman for
whose family she had worked over the past three decades.
She and her charge had just moved in. She’s blind and
infirm, but strong of voice. She too likes the dog. She’s one
hundred and two years old, yes 102! To her I don’t wave.
I call out greetings.
Something is separating Americans and it is not distance.

BUYER? Call Joe Young SELLER? This brings us the long way around to the good Samaritan

who helped out with a check to get a woman he did not know
THIS IS THE MARKET YOU YOU NEED EXPOSURE & over a hump that could have been a precipice in her life. He
wasn’t Bill Gates nor was he a noted philanthropist here or
HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR! AGGRESSIVE MARKETING! anywhere. He was just a guy who was touched by the story
(561) 756-8508 (561) 756-8508 about another person and decided to do more than just sigh
over the misfortune. Nor would what he did have been any
Hope everyone is doing okay during these challenging times. I am here to assist any way I can. less worthy if he had bought her groceries, filled up her car
with gas, paid her electric bill, or just introduced himself
to her and say, “It sounds like you could use someone to
talk to and I’ve got plenty of time to listen.”
SOLD CLOSED of a do-gooder, we have a model for the doing of good.
Through this Tap In story, we have more than the story
Instead of putting up political signs, maybe we should be
posting the Golden Rule.
Columnist and author Bill Gralnick was born and
raised in Brooklyn, NY. He is writing a three-part
humorous memoir. The first is “The War of the Itchy Balls
and Other Tales from Brooklyn.” Just published is the
sequel, “George Washington Didn’t Sleep Here.” Both are
available on Amazon. You can find his writing at https://
7916 La Mirada $299,000 7271 Via Palomar $569,000 www.williamgralnickauthor.com. 
CLOSED CLOSED

7284 Via Palomar $559,000 7268 Via Palomar $499,000

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