I feel very blessed to have a job where I can work from home. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I was given the opportunity to set up a home office. I may not see my co-workers or supervisor in person each day, but we stay in close contact by sending emails and instant messages, to each other.
My supervisor is a strong and inspiring woman who is very family oriented. She treats her “team” i.e., department, as family, and is always overflowing with love and compassion.
Each week on Monday she has what she calls a Motivational Monday Message that she emails out to us.
This past week her motivational message was called “Life is an Echo”. And it goes like this.
“What you send out comes back. What you sow, you reap. What you give, you get. What you see in others, exists in you. Do not judge, so you will not be judged. Radiate and give love and love will come back to you.”
Words to live by. Right?
So, when someone moved into the house next door to me, I thought I would welcome them to the neighborhood by preparing them a meal. But first I would need to make certain they did not have any food allergies. Plus, I would need to know how many mouths I would be feeding.
Yesterday, while dragging my trash and recycle bins out to the street, I saw my new neighbor sitting in a wheelchair on his driveway. So, I went over to introduce myself and welcome him to the neighborhood.
It was a cold and windy day so he asked if he could come over. Thinking he meant to my garage because the door was open and it would block the wind, so I agreed, and he followed me with his motorized chair where we chatted while he continued to insist, we go inside my house because as he put it, “You look cold”.
I reassured him I was fine, explaining I was from the Midwest where forty degrees is a heat wave this time of year.
In chatting with Eric, I asked him what put him in a wheelchair. He said when he was nine years old, he was hit by a car. All the while I was thinking it was probably gang related considering the guys, I saw who helped him move into his house.
None the less, this young thirty(ish) kid, had the appearance of having had a stroke or possibly even spina bifida.
He continued to insist we go inside the house. I did not want to be rude, but I was not going to invite a perfect stranger into my home. Even if he was in a wheelchair.
He told me he was living alone so I had to assume he was just lonely and in need of a friend. But the longer we chatted the weirder things got.
He asked for my phone number and when I refused, he asked for my email address and my Facebook information, commenting on how good I looked. Then he went on to ask if I had a doorbell camera and security alarms. Why? I wondered.
I do have an ADT sign out front, so criminals know I am not messing around. But I have heard where people put those signs out as a deterrent, even when they do not have the alarm system. Maybe that is why he asked.
I impressed upon him how much I loved my security system. Then he proceeds to ask if the windows are set with alarms as well. Dear God. Seriously?
I made certain he understood, “Yes, of course, the windows each have alarms as well.”
All I could think of was, “Okay Eric. Time for you to go home.”
Maybe I watch too many cop shows and was just paranoid. But I had to wonder if this guy was just the lookout person for his criminal buddies. After all, he was wanting to get into my house pretty desperately. Probably to see what I had that was worth stealing and how to bypass my alarms.
I walked Eric out of my garage, insisting I had work to do. He then proceeded to ask me to go over to his house with him.
Lonely? Or serial killer? My mind was off the chain.
And since I would not give him my phone number, he said he would just ring my doorbell for a visit.
What I thought was being neighborly and sowing seeds of kindness, could come back to haunt me. My police buddy told me I had every reason to be alarmed and guided me on steps to take.
I can only hope my echo does not end up stinking like rotten eggs in the face.
Until next time, God Bless,
Mary Kruger Latta is a mother of nine children and a grandmother of 12. She can be reached at Overallmom53@hotmail.com.
The Link LonkFebruary 13, 2021 at 04:55AM
https://www.journal-republican.com/opinion/overall-mom-my-life-is-an-echo-of-rotten-eggs/article_39fcad26-6a58-11eb-9694-cbd756a52211.html
OVERALL MOM: My life is an echo of rotten eggs - Piatt County Journal-Republican
https://news.google.com/search?q=rotten&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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