my neighbors

Well, the folks who live next to (and below) me have now given me three different labels, and I feel it's time to display them proudly.

1) Middle-class:
A couple of years ago, during a violent lightening storm (which had already struck elsewhere in town and was now right overhead), I declined an invitation from my neighbor to leave the porch and stand with him under the tall tree in our front yard. "Oh, you're so middle-class!" he yelled at me from the street.

2) Lesbian:
I was recently informed by another neighbor that the whole neighborhood thinks I'm a lesbian. Why? One, because I live with Joel, and they all know he's a great guy so if we're not together that must be the reason and two, because I'm regularly visited by "that girl."
-Which girl? I asked him. "That girl, you know, the one who comes from Massachusetts all the time to see you." Oh yeah, my mom.

3) Someone who "doesn't talk to people"
A third neighbor approached me hesitantly the other day. "Excuse me!" she said, staying quite some distance away, but craning her head towards me, as if I were a wild animal she wanted to inspect. She said, "I know you don't talk to people, but I thought I'd introduce myself. My name is Sharon, and I'm your neighbor." "Hi, nice to meet you," I replied, "My name's Kate. But I don't know what you mean about not talking to people?" It took three times of her introducing herself again, and again mentioning that I "ignore people", and me asking her what she meant by that, before she finally told me why she had formed this opinion: One day there had been a bookseller out in front of the house looking for me, and he had had to call to me twice to get my attention, because I was at the back of the house loading some things in my car and didn't hear him the first time.

Yep. I'll be interested to see what they come up with next.