Mr. R's neighborhood

A fable

In Mr. R's neighborhood were about three dozen houses. Many were small. Some were larger. And one, the house belonging to Mr. R, was the largest.

It hadn’t always been the largest. In fact it started small. But the members of Mr. R’s family were an energetic bunch, and they added to the house, a wing here, an ell there. Sometimes they did so at the expense of the near neighbors, encroaching on their property. This made those neighbors unhappy and caused other neighbors to fear for their own safety. Yet things eventually calmed down.

Until Theodore, then the senior member of the R family, became particularly pushy. Theodore had grand visions for the household, and he decided the house needed a shortcut connecting its front yard and its back yard. The shortcut would run through the property of one of the neighbors. Theodore offered money to the neighbor for the right to build the shortcut.

The neighbor didn’t want to sell. Not at the price Theodore was offering. He made a counteroffer.

Theodore could be hot-headed. His head grew very hot when he learned that his desire for the shortcut was being thwarted.

Theodore wasn’t a bad man, but he became a bad neighbor. He conspired with some members of his neighbor’s household to break up the property and sell him the part needed for the shortcut.

Theodore was delighted. He joined the construction crew that was building the shortcut, to make the work go faster. He grew prouder each day.

But the neighborhood wasn’t happy. Sometimes it takes only one bad neighbor to make everyone worry that bad things will happen to them.

And truth be said, when Theodore went on vacation — shooting lions in a neighborhood far away — the others who took his place in the big house weren’t better neighbors. They treated much of the neighborhood like they owned it all. They loaned money to neighbors in need, but when the neighbors had difficulty paying, they used threats and armed men to collect.

A dark mood settled over the neighborhood. Many of the neighbors muttered when they looked toward the big house. They said they never wanted to have anything to do with the family that lived there.

But then a new member of the family took charge of the R house. His name was Franklin. He announced that he was going to be a good neighbor. He promised not to trespass on the property of the neighbors or threaten them. He would treat them the way neighbors should be treated.

The people in the neighborhood were skeptical at first. Talk was one thing, action another. But Franklin kept his promise. He did not trespass. He took pains to encourage the exchange of goods within the neighborhood, so that each neighbor could become more prosperous.

The most important thing he did was to treat each neighbor with respect. He asked the neighbors for their advice. When troubles in a neighborhood to the east threatened to disturb the neighborhood, he offered assistance.

The neighborhood became neighborly again. The households formed a neighborhood association that met regularly to deal with matters of mutual concern.

Things weren’t perfect in the neighborhood. Occasional quarrels occurred. Some of Franklin’s successors slipped back into the bad-neighborly habits of Theodore.

But the troubles in Mr. R’s neighborhood were minor compared with those in other neighborhoods. On the big issues the neighbors stood together. And most of the neighbors most of the time were happy to be part of Mr. R’s neighborhood.

Some of the old-timers took a lesson. Bad neighbors can have their way on this issue or that, but at a cost in neighborhood morale. For the long term, good neighbors make a better experience for everyone, even those who live in the big house.