Maryanne
Vera
Hello Ladies,
My neighbor is a really nice woman with two young children. We see each other socially on occasion and our children play as well. My problem is that she drives like a bat out of hell and flies by my house every day on her way to work. I don’t know how to ask her to slow down but I am afraid that she may hit one of the kids in the neighborhood. Any advice?
VERA
As Freud said: “Sometimes a Cigar is Just a Cigar!” Tell your neighbor to Please Slow Down. You might add that you are terribly concerned that one of the neighborhood children will forget themselves and dash out in front of her and that she wouldn”t have a prayer of stopping in time. You might also say that you understand how busy and rushed everyone is and that, under those circumstances, it’s easy to forget to drive slowly in a neighborhood filled with children and so you’re going to spearhead a gathering of neighborhood children to make signs that will be posted throughout the neighborhood reminding drivers to slow down. The signs might say things such as “You are entering an outdoor family room. Please drive slowly;” or “It’s no jive, drive only 5.” The children themselves might have great ideas and making the signs would help them remember to stay out of the way of cars. Finally, you could explore whether Huntington is a community where the police allow citizens to use speed guns to help patrol their own neighborhoods against those who drive too fast!
MARYANNE
You could suggest the neighbors were requesting the community to put bumps in the road near you as there were some complaints about fast drivers endangering childrens lives and what did she think?You could also put bumper stickers on your car-” slow down-children live here and sometimes wandering adults” or some other cool saying. Large rocks outside your driveway might help and sometimes nails and broken glass have been known to give second thoughts to these speeders but of course it’s not too neighborly.
Maryanne is a 45-year Huntington resident with lots of grown children and more grandchildren than she can count on her fingers and toes (no, she isn’t missing any digits). She’s third generation Irish, raised in Brooklyn and a big fan of chocolate, Halloween and Subarus.
Vera has been a psychotherapist for over 30 years and drives a Subaru. She’s an out-of-towner with Huntington relatives. She lives in the mountains is a mother and grandmother, . Vera asked us to remind our readers that every situation is unique and complicated; explore your situation in detail with your psychotherapist and/or your physician.
If you have a question you’d like us to pose to Maryanne & Vera please send us a note with “Broad View Question” in the subject line. publisher@VillageTattler.com
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