Love Thy Neighbor? Not my JW neighbors.

by jws 20 Replies latest jw friends

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  jws

  I live next to JW neighbors. I was a JW 1000 miles away over 20 years ago, never here. As far as I know, nobody here knows I once was, including the neighbors.

  So there wouldn't be any reason for them to shun me. And since I'm not DA or DF, there's no need for JWs I know back home to shun me either.

  We don't really talk much. It's not a know all your neighbors kind of block, but we talk occasionally. The longest conversation was when he was trying to sell me some vitamins or something from some MLM he's into.

  So anyway, something irks me about them. Not a big thing. I don't dislike them, just this one thing bugs me about them. And maybe it's something I shouldn't let bug me.

  Friday was trash day. Our houses are about 10 feet apart and we keep the trash bins in the space between our houses, no fence. Mine are right there, like 4 feet from theirs. One bin for trash, one for recycling. On trash days, you put them out by the curb so that the trucks can empty them.

  So Friday I was a little later putting mine out and I go out and see the JW neighbors have already put out their trash. Good for them. They're just doing what people do.

  The difference is, whenever I go to take my bins to the curb, if I see theirs are still there, I take theirs out too. I think it's just the neighborly thing to do. Nobody wants to miss a trash day, especially when your bin is a bit full already. And to me, it's a crime prevention thing too. If your bins aren't out on trash day or still full afterwards, it's a sign nobody's home.

  I never once hear so much as a thank you and they have NEVER once returned the favor. Usually I'm around and get my bins out, but there have been times I've forgotten and other times when I was out of town.

  Now it may be that they just don't know who took out their trash and everyone in the house thinks somebody else in the house did it and never questions it. There's 2 guys living there, a woman, and two kids about 12 and 8. I think it's a husband, a wife, their kids, and her brother. I don't know, don't really care how they're related.

  Although they've got to know somebody helps them. There are times when I see their trash is almost to the point of overflowing and they're obviously on vacation or whatever. When they come back to empty bins, they must know somebody took them out on trash day.

  I guess for them, love thy neighbor only applies if you live next door to another JW. Maybe not even then.
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  dazed but not confused

  Backing away slowly....

  
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  AnneB

  If they can't remember to put out their trash (so you end up doing it), why do you expect that they'll remember to help you? That's where your reasoning breaks down, imo.

  Stop taking out their trash. Let them learn to do it. Maybe once they figure out how to handle their own basic responsibilities they'll have a brain cell developed enough to think about helping you.

  Running a sales pitch is not the same as conversation, btw.

  AB
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  dazed but not confused

  I would ignore my neighbors when I was a JW. I think it was because I didn't want to become overly friendly with worldlies. I don't know why. Just a wierd quirk. Now I talk and laugh with my neighbors. They tend to isolate themselves from anyone not a JW. But yeah, If a neighbor did this for me I would definatly have told them thank you at the very least.
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  jookbeard

  they simply are not nice people period world wide, indoctrination , the world verses us, obsession in winning arguments do not bring out good qualities in people , I've said it many times and they are some of the very most dreadful people I've ever met in my entire life .
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  whathappened

  Remember, they don't know you, they think you are in line for devine distruction and are deserving of it due to the fact that you are not one of Jehovah's Witnesses. They don't associate with "worldly" people, for fear you will want to be friends and corrupt them. " Bad association spoils useful habits," and you are bad association. You might even be demonized for all they know.
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  Satanus

  I remember talks decrying how bad the world was, people not even knowing their neighbors.

  'I guess for them, love thy neighbor only applies if you live next door to another JW.'

  Refrain from putting out their garbage, for a while. See what happens, if there is any change.

  S
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  PaintedToeNail

  Maybe they are completely oblivious. I have an older male JW relative who has to be told to zip his pants up every single time he comes out of the bathroom-no kidding-he also misplaces his glasses, pens, keys and so on. He always has to be reminded to put the garbage out, he has been living in the same home for 18 years and has had the same garbage day for that same length of time. literally hundreds of times the garbage has been taken to the curb, and he needs reminded. He never remembers anything. He is completely oblivious to things, yet can do difficult math problems and is really good at drawing and figuring out how to make things work.
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  NVR2L8

  I use to do the snow removal at the Kingdom Hall which includes the sidewalk. On one side of the hall there is a home occupying the street corner lot and on the other side there is a church. Since we had a tractor with a snow blower I would clear the sidewalk along the home all the way to the street corner, so the neighbors didn't have to do it by hand. Then I would run the blower past the church to their driveway where I could easily turn around and drive back to the hall. I guess my replacement doesn't believe in being a good neighbor and he stops clearing the snow right on the property line on the side of the church while going all the way to the street corner on the opposite side...School kids use that sidewalk to get to school...that should be a good enough reason to extend the snow clearing past the church...Jehovah will not strike you to death for doing it...I'm the living proof!
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  EmptyInside

  They are just being thoughtless,JW's or not. I know some Witness would thank you and some non-Witnesses would not. It's just the way it is sometimes.

  Maybe they mean to say thank you,but by the time they see you out again,it slips their mind.