I realise that Winston has a parallel thread running on a similar topic but I feel that my tale is so extraordinary that it warrants its own thread.
A few months ago a young single mother moved in next door. Not the most talkative of people I found whenever I tried exchanging pleasantries with her on the doorstep so I assumed she must have been depressed.
Now I'm a neighbourly soul at heart so I took it upon myself to do something to cheer her up. I'd noted that her garden had become somewhat unkempt since she moved in so I thought I'd go and sort it out for her sometime when I knew she was away. I have to confess that I wasn't being entirely altruistic here since I'm sure her knee height grass was having an adverse effect on the price of my house.
So I made a point of standing outside where I could listen in to her telephone conversations until I got wind of her going away. It turned out she was going to her sister one weekend so as soon as I heard her door close on that Saturday morning I shot straight round armed to the gunwhales with various horticultural implements.
I mowed her lawn and gave it stripes, weeded all the borders, planted some gloxinia that I had spare and even fashioned a little sparrow out of her box hedge. Knowing she'd be back on the Sunday evening, I accidentally on purpose made sure I was there putting the final touches to the fruits of my labour.
And that's where it all went wrong.
Instead of hearing overtures of gratitude for what I had done the first thing I heard was "what the hell are you doing in my garden?" This rapidly descended into a hysterical verbal assault on me in which she accused me of violating her space. Not the sweet lonely single mum I thought she was but a rabid north country lefty type with more baggage than terminal 5.
I tried making the peace with her a few days later by taking round a cauliflower cheese that I had made but she told me to clear off and that she was going to inform social services. All in all this leaves me in a very awkward position as our paths occasionally cross on the doorstep and I just can't stand her frostiness towards me. Is there anything I can do to offer her an olive branch or do you think I would be digging myself into a hole?
A few months ago a young single mother moved in next door. Not the most talkative of people I found whenever I tried exchanging pleasantries with her on the doorstep so I assumed she must have been depressed.
Now I'm a neighbourly soul at heart so I took it upon myself to do something to cheer her up. I'd noted that her garden had become somewhat unkempt since she moved in so I thought I'd go and sort it out for her sometime when I knew she was away. I have to confess that I wasn't being entirely altruistic here since I'm sure her knee height grass was having an adverse effect on the price of my house.
So I made a point of standing outside where I could listen in to her telephone conversations until I got wind of her going away. It turned out she was going to her sister one weekend so as soon as I heard her door close on that Saturday morning I shot straight round armed to the gunwhales with various horticultural implements.
I mowed her lawn and gave it stripes, weeded all the borders, planted some gloxinia that I had spare and even fashioned a little sparrow out of her box hedge. Knowing she'd be back on the Sunday evening, I accidentally on purpose made sure I was there putting the final touches to the fruits of my labour.
And that's where it all went wrong.
Instead of hearing overtures of gratitude for what I had done the first thing I heard was "what the hell are you doing in my garden?" This rapidly descended into a hysterical verbal assault on me in which she accused me of violating her space. Not the sweet lonely single mum I thought she was but a rabid north country lefty type with more baggage than terminal 5.
I tried making the peace with her a few days later by taking round a cauliflower cheese that I had made but she told me to clear off and that she was going to inform social services. All in all this leaves me in a very awkward position as our paths occasionally cross on the doorstep and I just can't stand her frostiness towards me. Is there anything I can do to offer her an olive branch or do you think I would be digging myself into a hole?
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