Social Coward

I am usually pretty wimpy when it comes to imposing on other people, so I really can’t believe I did this, but I must confess, I did. As many of you know, I lived for several years over on Millbrook drive on the southside of town. From ‘93 until 2001 that’s where my family made its home. We practically raised our daughter there and really enjoyed the neighborhood, except for the falling pine trees during Hurricane Fran and the flood during Hurricane Floyd.

A few years ago, now, Kathy and I were riding on that side of town and just decided to ride by the old house. I couldn’t believe it. The guy who bought that old house had really fixed it up. He had cut all the pine trees down and fixed up the yard. Well, here’s where the wimpy part comes in:

When we rode by, I think Kathy said, “Let’s stop and see who lives there and see if they’ll let us walk through our old house.” Now, folks, I tell you, that’s not me. I’m a social coward and I cringe at the thought of doing something like that, but on this occasion, my curiosity and my wife’s desire overrode my fear. So we stopped.

The people turned out to be very nice and they immediately invited us in and showed us what they had done with the place. I don’t think, however, they would have been so cordial if I had started questioning the changes they had made. I mean, if I would have began by saying, “Hey, who told you you could cut down all those pine trees,” or “Why did you turn our beautiful daughters bedroom into an office?” I don’t think they’d have been so nice. Well, at first they might have been gracious enough to offer some explanation, but if I’d have kept doing that, what would they have said? That’s right! They’d have said, “Hey, dude last time we checked, our names were on this title and we’re paying the mortgage. We’ll do whatever we please with our property.”