Ohio suburb designates ‘Hi Neighbor’ nights
WORTHINGTON, Ohio (June 21, 2002 10:25 a.m. EDT) – Officials in this Columbus suburb want neighbors to be more neighborly. So they declared Friday and Saturday nights “Hi Neighbor” nights.
The City Community Relations Commission posted fliers urging residents to take part in the icebreaker this weekend.
The rules are simple: Residents whose addresses are odd numbers are to sit in their front yards from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Friday. Everyone on the other side of the street is to come over and say hello.
Then, on Saturday, everybody is to switch sides and reverse roles.
Ken Ewing, 83, said his neighbors usually just wave when they see each other and go inside.
“This isn’t what you’d consider the friendliest neighborhood in the world,” Ewing said. “And that’s OK. People are just busy with their lives.”
Another resident, Margaret Real, found it odd that city officials would try to intervene.
“I think people should meet under more normal circumstances,” she said.
Um… no. Call me an anti-social bitch if you like, but I won’t be told to sit in my yard at a specific time and talk to my neighbors.
Exactly
Why don’t they just make you wash the neighbor’s car or some crap like that too?
That’s ridiculous. I’ll socialize with the neighbors if I want to, but no one’s going to tell me that I have to sit outside and talk to them. I’m very shy and hate being *told* to socialize, like in college when we had our dorm “ice breakers” and things like that. Besides, Ryan and I are often gone on Friday and Saturday nights, and when we are in, we prefer to spend the time together, cuddling or whatever. I’d be interested to see how the people in that town react to this and if they actually do it.