The inconsiderate neighbor

Tweet

A long time ago, back when I was about 10 years old or so lol, I had a neighbor that wasn't very nice. Oh, who am I kidding? She was just plain rude! Although she lived on the next block, our backyards were back to back to one another. This neighbor had a peach tree. Part of it went over our side of the fence. My mom and I would pick the ones that were on our side. However, my mom and I started to notice that the peaches on the neighbor's side were not being collected... My mom was the type of woman who was generous and kindhearted and would help anyone whether they asked for it or not. I guess she thought that all the neighbors were the same way, because the next thing I knew, she wanted me to go with her to this neighbor's house so we could ask if we could get some peaches from this neighbor's side of the yard. Me being the kind of person that I was, didn't think it was such a good idea and found it rather odd. After all, we didn't even know this neighbor. Still, I ended up going with my mom. We reached the door and our neighbor opened it up. My mom explained to her who we were and asked if we could pick the peaches that were in her backyard. The neighbor said no, which was understandable. We were strangers, after all. So, my mom asked the neighbor if the neighbor would pick some for us. Heck, my mom even offered to pay her for them. Again, the neighbor said no, rather rudely I might add. She further claimed that she was going to be canning them. Oh, she did generously offer (insert sarcasm here) for us to pick the ones on our side of the fence. So we continued to do just that. Time passed by. Again we noticed that the peaches weren't being collected by the neighbor. They continued to fall off the tree. Some were even beginning to rot! Eventually, even more and more peaches fell and rotted. The neighbor lied...obviously! She was never planning on canning those peaches! My mom, who wasn't one to waste food, was pissed off at the neighbor for being lied to! So much so, that she actually wanted me to climb over the fence and go into the neighbor's yard! There was no way I was about to do that though! I didn't want to get in trouble! I did however use a ladder, stretched my body out really far and got as many peaches as I could, all without stepping foot inside the neighbor's yard. Looking back, I can't help but wonder. What in the world would possess a person to not only be rude, but to lie to a neighbor they just met? If it had been your peach tree, would you have reacted like that?