My neighborhood has its... 'charm'; million dollar homes surrounded by an eclectic growing homeless population, occasional theft and craziness and random quirky community happenings like a neon lit bike parade every Sunday. Over the last two years and counting living in this neighborhood, I have not made too many friends (A global pandemic kinda keeps one isolated) but I have had my share of experiences with the folks that occupy this neck of the woods. And today, there is one more 'experience' I can add to the list:
Six months ago, a new neighbor moved in to the apartment below mine. A nurse, or so I understood, and we even exchanged friendly comments to each other in the courtyard. She even left a bag of chocolates at my door as a holiday little gift. However, I also became aware of some strangeness from this neighbor: In passing, she referenced her evangelical belief and how much she adores Israel. Her eyes turned into 'crazy eyes' (bulging, wide, looked like they were about to pop out) as she started spewing some fanatic evangelical belief about the end times, and I quickly assessed: she has a mental illness of some sort. Anyone who is that fanatic of a believer must be a bit off in the head somehow. And especially if they are going on and on about the so called 'end times.' I pulled away from the conversation, needing to shake that toxic feeling she left in me, and didn't think much of it. Not for a little while, at least. Then, a week ago, I woke up in the middle of the night from an obscene sound: it sounded like banging on the ceiling from the apartment below. In the morning, my boyfriend received a message from the neighbor, referring to our home as the 'devil's home' and going on and on about evil forces and our evil deeds. I can't help but feeling a mixture of things: concern, obviously, for my safety given the crazy neighbor has turned her communication into a bizarre aggressive delusional rant, and also anger that this woman wasn't helped by her loved ones. And also perhaps some sadness that nobody is in her life to encourage her to get the mental health help she desperately needs. And also... rage for what I interpret is a hateful antisemitic comment about me as the 'devil.' Today she made that noise again. I went to the window, and at the top of my lungs screamed: 'SHUUUUT UUUUP!' And she did. She so desperately wants a devil - I'll give her a devil. ;)
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorIn April 2020, while experiencing her first ever global pandemic, Tamar Pelzig pledged to write something every day, even if it's only a word, so she welcomed to the world a daily blog to keep her creative writing wheels rolling. Categories
All
Archives
November 2023
Header Art: Daniel Landerman |