Negative Nabobs Next Door

I ran across the Website Nextdoor.com.  It bills itself as a place “where communities come together to greet newcomers, exchange recommendations, and read the latest local news.”

Neat idea.  It’s a social media site which connects folks in the same community – a worthy endeavor.  I’m still relatively new to the Delaware beach community where I settled a few years ago and still have a lot to learn.  Thinking I could connect with some of my neighbors and get some help finding a plumber or a place to go clamming, I signed up.

Now you have to understand my community. It’s on the Atlantic coast of the Delmarva peninsula and was originally a farming and fishing community.  In the 1980s vacationers from Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia began coming here.  Today my county is one of the fastest growing in the country.  By the way, it’s a great place to retire.

So, we have the “from heres” and the “come heres.”  Everyone is welcome, but the worry of many locals is that the “come heres” move from locales that have high taxes, congestion, and crime.  Then they advocate for the some of the same stuff here that caused problems in the places they left.

Another problem we have is the “pig farm syndrome.”  It goes like this: a pig farmer has had his farm for decades.  Maybe it’s been passed down through the generations.  He makes a good living raising pigs and minds his business.  Then a developer builds 200 townhouses next door and the new residents complain about the smell and raise a stink (pun intended) with the town.

Nextdoor.com has all the benefits of connecting neighbors, but it also has some unpleasant edges.  While asking for recommendations about a handyman or restaurant, it also gives folks an opportunity to bitch about everything.  Every.  Little.  Thing.

Some of my favorites are:

• I would love to see a local Target store.  Yeah, and I’d like a decent Philly pizza joint.  But we ain’t getting either one.  Drive a few miles to buy your cheap imported crap!

• The condo association next door isn’t cutting their grass.  Horrors!  I’ll alert the media.

• We have wild turkeys!  Yeah, no.  They’re Turkey Buzzards dumbass.   They eat the roadkill you northerners run over because you're in such a big friggin hurry to get to the Target.

• What kind of snake is this?  OMG, who cares?  RUN AWAY!

• There are bees in my yard!  What, you grew up on Mars?  They’re BEES.  It’s a YARD!

My favorite: 

• Loud frogs – the frogs in the pond next to me are too loud.  Maybe we can put Covid masks on the little buggers.

I don’t mean to be hard on Nextdoor.com.  They have a good idea.  I’m just sick of stupid/inconsiderate/rude/obnoxious people.

I'm not trying to discourage new people who wish to move here.  I just want the “come heres” to realize that this is largely a farming and beach community and they have to accept the sights, sounds, and smells that go along with it.  Please don't try to change our little bit of country heaven into a mini city!