did I say that?

So, a while back in the blog I made some naive and idealistic comment about being grateful for people who irritate me because they give me practice being kind. Well, that is all fine and good until my neighbor moved in.

I've chatted with him a few times, because I like knowing my neighbors and all. Anyhow, he's one of those.... umm.... chatty types, where you can't just talk to him for a minute, 'cause even when you're running away late for class he's still talking at you as you go, and if you don't go, he'll talk for 20 minutes nonstop, and you have to point out that you're holding 50 pounds of groceries and carrying your mail in your mouth and this isn't the greatest time to get into a long conversation about the cable service in the area.

Anyhow, even this wouldn't be so much of a big deal, 'cause it's not hard for me to point out the part about the groceries and the mail etc... and whenever I'm not in a hurry I try to stay and chat a bit... but I have this balcony, my haven, the place I go when I leave my phone and computer in the back room and want to just sit and ignore technology and listen to buses go by for a half-hour, or read, or just generally be away from people for a little while. And it overlooks his yard. So now when he comes out (which is most of the time, because the weather's nice and he doesn't have a job), he just starts talking to me on the balcony, even though I have pointed out that I can't hear him (because of the aforementioned buses) and have mentioned that I'm in the middle of reading. And it's one thing to walk away when I have the grocery excuse but it's hard to sit on the balcony and politely inform him I'll be ignoring him 20 feet away.