For me, I live in a gated community. No...I am not uber-rich, those are the people that live in the gigantic mansions on the golf course when you first pass through security. I live in the back where the townhouses are lined up in a cute rows that form a square. And yes, I'm just grateful to have a home.
That being said, the only thing that I hate is the feeling that people are always in your face, even if there are not there physically in front of you. You can just feel them staring at you when you get out of the car, when you go to the car, when you stand outside your front door, or even just when you are trying to make that little square of grass allotted to you into some semblance of a garden, they are there...watching.
And you know that while watching you, they are speculating on what you do, who you are dating, how many people you're sleeping with by the number of "guests" you have parked in the parking lot (thankfully, I don't have that problem since I'm married) but I'm sure they find something to speculate about my husband or myself when they see us.
Our little square is really like a small town: you got the gossip (the little old lady whose husband works in the days, so being retired, herself, she has nothing better to do that to observe her neighbors and spread what she's learned to others in the neighborhood; by the way, don't tell her you're going out of town or the WHOLE square will know and alert their burglar friends); the white-trash family (please remove the garbage in the front yard and stop yelling at your eight kids at the top of your lungs); the token minority family (and BEFORE you email me that I'm racist or anything. I'm just making an OBSERVATION!) the temptress who sashays around the square flipping her long, naturally curly hair and feels the need to talk to ALL the men and ignore the women; the odd woman, I call her "Loopy Lucy," who walks around STARING at all the houses or you, if your out and NEVER says anything, who also likes to wear long white dresses, even now that it's fall (and who probably lives with 50 cats and has buried her husband in the basement), the two couples that are the best of friends living side by side, but are probably sleeping with one another spouses ( because they're reliving the 70's and are swingers) and you think this because of how friendly they are to each other, and finally the nice young couple who recently had a baby, but still feel the stigma of not being married and living in sin even though it's 2010. (I have surmised that this stigma still exists due do to the little old lady informing me when I was watering my roses that the girl was expecting and "she's not married!" stressing the "not married")
All of this makes me wonder what they say about us. My husband leaves for work, comes home, and jogs around the neighborhood. Pretty boring. We never yell or fight (or at least loud enough for people to hear), I work from home, so my car is always outside (that probably REALLY throws them off!) We have a nice little garden, keep to ourselves, and are polite when spoken to. Hmmm. Who knows, the old lady has probably told them she's seen our picture on "America's Most Wanted" (No, we are not wanted!)
Recently, I told my husband I want to move to Alaska next year.
Can't wait!!
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