How To Deal With Kids Playing In Your Driveway

Believe me, you want neighbors like this. Here's the story, on his motion cameras, every evening, this kid learning to ride a bike would make a huge swoop up into a sprawling driveway. It's a big area, you'd be free to roam, and it's not the street, you'd do it to. There are people in this world that make a big deal about this too, and it's not just the Ken's and Karen's. I know plenty of people that would show up at this moms house and demand she keep her kid off of their property, but you shouldn't slip into that state of human worthlessness... Embrace it like this gold standard level of a neighbor.

Just for kicks, and because he knows the kid is just looking to shred on that sweet glider bike, he got out there and started drawing chalk race tracks. Naturally, the kid sees it, realizes he's got a chance to ride a course, and takes off like one of those European F1 racers. Spoiler alert, he wins every race he has in that driveway.

That's the kind of neighbor you want on your street, and it's also the kind of person you should aspire to be.

Before I bought my own home on a block full of awesome neighbors, I, like most people in Lawton, rented a generic house on a block where everyone was mostly anonymous. Michael across the street was the first dude I met, literally while moving in, I saw him walking to his car, I hopped across the street and said "Hi, I'm your new neighbor Kelso." He was shocked because, as he put it, nobody cares about being neighbors anymore. Turns out, on that little stretch of Cheyenne, I had the chance to meet several neighbors. My rentals driveway was the only one on the block with a basketball goal, so almost every evening, kids would ring the doorbell and ask me to move my car so they could play. Eventually, I just started parking in the street so they could just ball in peace without disturbing mine.

In a world as crazy as ours, you should aspire to be a neighbor. Not just someone that lives in the home next to someone else, but a true neighbor. If yours don't seem super friendly, odds are it's because you probably don't seem super friendly. When you get the chance, walk over and meet the strangers next door. Be sure to write down their name afterwards so you don't have to say "What's your name again?" later, it's embarrassing. I'm not saying you need to become best buds and what-not, but you should be on a first name basis with everyone around you. You'll be glad you did.