The above link will take you to my thread about our recent Sky and broadband problems. This is relevant!
As I said there the neighbour hasn't spoken to us in the 15 years we have lived here. He can be working in his front garden and won't look up or speak if you pass closely by.
A couple of times several years ago a Christmas card was hand delivered to our house for them. They live next door but one. OH took the card round, knocking to check it was for them as we weren't sure of their names. The wife answered and said thanks. The next year the same happened and OH knocked again to ask if they would tell their friends that it was the wrong house. This time M, the husband answered and reacted as though OH had arrived unannounced for 3 course meal, rather than doing them a favour! Didn't thank her for dropping off their card.
So, we havent liked M, long before the Sky and fence digging debacle.
As you probably know I volunteer at our local library. I am there almost every Tuesday morning. There are volunteers for most though not all days. We rarely see each other unless we call in on days we don't volunteer. On my Tuesdays there is sometimes another volunteer, who can only do an hour, as he starts work later that day. He isn't there every week, I would say two or three out of four, but it varies. I have worked with him for over a year.
He seems efficient but in fact has little actual knowledge of the library system and comes up to me most weeks for help. I try not to make him look silly when its usually flipping obvious where the book will be found and sort of make out I find it by chance (when in fact I go straight to it) He finds the children's library particularly challenging and have explained a few things to him, such as Pb is paperback not Picture Book (which is Picb) and TNGfic is teenage. I don't blame him for this as I feel there should more training for this role, we just pick it up by observing or asking the librarian. The daily Pick list where we find reserved books on the shelves is a particular bugbear to him and I will volunteer for that to his obvious relief.
This is to show you that we get along well for the short time we spend together and more importantly whilst not trying to blow my own trumpet I am very helpful to him.
One day during the Sky situation I was looking through the front window and saw neighbour M faffing about as usual. I said to OH . M looks very like M from the library from here! This seemed a preposterous idea, 1 - That he would volunteer for anything 2 - That we could be volunteers living two doors apart and 3 - That we didn't recognise each other.
I sort of dismissed it until his wife came to say her OH didn't want the fence digging up and told us he was only available on Tuesday mornings, as that's when the digging must happen.
Same name, free part of Tuesday morning, similar appearance. Lots of coincidences here. So it was on my mind for days, with OH saying No it can't be him!
His wife recently joined the street WhatsApp group to I now knew M's surname.
On Tuesday, we worked together as usual, him being very glad I took the Pick List and when he left I wished him Merry Christmas. Still believing the coincidences. When I signed out at the end of the morning I noticed his name on the volunteer list. The same surname as the neighbour. For some reason it hadn't occurred to me to check the name on there before.
So unfriendly pesky neighbour M and library M who works alongside me and relies on me for help are one and the same person!!!!!
At the library he is heads down on with his work. I always say good morning him when I spot him, he never seeks me out and I have never seen him interact with customers. He only goes into the office to sign in and out not chat as I do. So I suppose there are similar traits to his behaviour as a neighbour. It shows he can however be friendly when he needs to be for his own purposes!
I do feel very tempted to stop giving him any help, considering how unhelpful a neighbour he has been to us.
I have no idea if M has known all along who I am, but I had no idea about him.
I think I may PM his wife, just to say I have realised that her M is the M I work with at the library and see what she says!
Comment