Someone said, “There’s nothing better than a good neighbor, and there’s nothing worse than a bad one!”

Trends have changed since our grandparent’s day, concerning how to be a good neighbor.  There was a time back there, when a good neighbor was somebody who came over regularly, and he knew all about your business, and you knew all about his. 

Today, it’s not your father’s Oldsmobile!  A good neighbor is someone of whom you are confident that if you called him for help, he would do his best to help you.  He may wave at you, when he sees you outside, but he may never actually come to your house.  This may not be the way it ought to be, but because of the fast pace most people follow in their lives, this is the way it is.

The architectural style of houses shows how the attitude has changed.  In my grandparents day, the houses had a big front porch with chairs (that were actually used,) and everything about the front of that house seemed to say, “Come on in, you are welcome.”  Today, if a house has a front porch, it’s usually just for looks, and if you entered it, you would have to deal with the spider webs that have found it to be a good place to be undisturbed.  Most houses do not have a front porch at all.  Most people enter their house through the carport, which has an electric door that closes behind them, and everything about that entrance says, “If I want you here, I’ll call you to come over.”

Call it what you will.  Say that people no longer care about one another, if you wish, but in reality, it’s just that our culture has pressed us into its mold.