Flat Tires + Neighbors = A Recipe for Neighboring

It was a cold, rainy day in the SoCe Neighborhood. We were sitting in the office as we usually do when Matt comes through the door and says “Lydia, did you know you have a flat tire?” Of course this would happen on one of the coldest days of the year.

Frustrated, I waited until the end of the day to deal with the car. In the dark. In the rain. My fiance Jonathan came to help and our VISTA Kristopher as well. They jack the car up and remove the lug nuts only to find that the wheel is frozen to the wheel well. They kick and pull but the wheel still won’t budge. It looked like the car was going to stay the night in that spot.

Suddenly, like manna from heaven, our wonderful neighbor Larry who lives up the block shows up while walking his dog. He kicks the tire with all of his might and the tire finally breaks free. Larry then asks what I’m going to do to fix it. I say I’ll put the boot on and drive up to Walmart to replace it. He said, “Heck no, you’re not! Let’s take it to my house and I can put a patch on and air it back up!” 20 minutes later, the car is back in business!

Neighboring comes in many different forms. It can be anything from just saying “Hi” every once in a while to giving someone the shirt off of your back. It can even be helping change a tire! You never know when an opportunity to neighbor will show itself.