Does YOUR Neighborhood Have One?

A Facebook page? Ours does.

I thought its purpose was to keep everyone informed of community events and local government happenings that would affect our area along with the help and support of finding the occasional lost family pet or a babysitter or to pass on things of which we need to be aware.

There have been positive posts put up. For example, the new Civic Club Prez and his wife lost their little boy and many lovely folks stepped up to do all they could in the child's honor. That was fantastic. It's nice to know that we have such a supportive neighborhood.

But I have to wonder if that support spans throughout the neighborhood.

There was a post about some neighborhood kids riding go-carts in the street and running them through trash on someone's curb (left there for pick-up). She didn't say anything derogatory. Just that she wished they had picked up the mess they made.

Not an unfair request.

And then there was the post about the kids who went around and shot vehicles with their paint ball guns.

And then there was the one about the person who jumped the privacy fence of a family (the husband being a police officer...cruiser parked in front of the house) in an attempt to break into their shed and took off when the officer/neighbor went outside.

Ok, we need to know these things are going on so we can be on the lookout. Right?

But then someone posts (in response to the go-cart incident) about neighbor boys who did some yard maintenance for the Prez and his wife. That was great. But they didn't just stop there. At the end, they put this: "This is our neighborhood. These are our kids. Thank you."

That last part was a direct slap in the face to the post about the go-carts. And this is the kind of thing that makes some of these neighbors lose total credibility with me.

Besides, there are kids around here who have some destructive tendencies and some who don't. They're not all perfect.

Not to mention that it is illegal for them to be riding that go-cart on the street.

And then there are those posts alerting us to any  local government happenings that will affect our neighborhood. Another great thing about having a community page for our neighborhood.

However, some of these people continue on with their personal opinions regarding those types of posts. I do not care how they feel about the issues. One woman (and, in this case, one has to consider the source) posted about a new ordinance. Fine. But going on and on about who voted against it and how she was for it and why so we should be too was a bit much for me.

Here's the deal-

• Not all kids are going to behave or pay attention all the time
• Some kids are going to do destructive things
• We have some of each kind in our neighborhood
• It's ok to post the stuff we need to be on the lookout for 
• It's ok to post the positive stuff
• It is NOT ok to be jerks to other people on our neighborhood page
• When someone has insulted another person, it is NOT ok to jump on the bandwagon and hurl further insults. That's rude and immature.
• It is ok to post any events/ordinances/zoning laws/etc. that will affect our neighborhood
• It is NOT ok to post how you feel about the said events/ordinances/zoning laws/etc. Use your personal page for that.

   Maybe having a social media page for neighborhoods is not a great idea. One soon learns way more about his/her neighbors than necessary.