Cockatiels Are Noisy! A.KA. Politeness Rules

Our neighbor is interesting! A while back our neighbor bought bows and arrows for their children as an Easter gift. Hmm....a means of causing death during a life acknowledging holiday. That's just me thinking about the ironies of life.

Now these weren't just your ordinary young, child's play bow and arrow but a set up that can cause actual harm. The kids, since they had this new 'toy' to play with, went outside and started target practicing. They started target practicing at our "KEEP KIDS ALIVE DRIVE 25" yard sign that we had placed in our yard, close to the rear of our car. It wasn't something we had paid for so the damage done was not something that NEEDED to be paid for.

Mr. Fred, my husband, saw the whole thing and became irate. He yelled at the kids to begin with. A few moments later, he saw the father in the backyard and spoke to him. He asked the father to get his kids to stop using the sign as a target. The father's response was, "what, they are not doing anything wrong" Hmmm...(me again thinking aloud) arrows going through a sign, next to a road with the possibility of traffic getting hit, possibly hitting our car with the arrows, vandalising a sign, yeah they weren't doing anything wrong. This totally tripped Mr. Fred's trigger because all the things I just thought about were what was going through his mind. Remember, he tried to speak to the father before he went the final step; he called the police. A policeman arrived and spoke to the father about the use of arrows in town. Ohhh..I forgot to mention, we live in a residential neighborhood in a town of approximately 48,000 people. It's not like we lived in the country.

You may be thinking what does this have to do with Cockatiels? Well, it was a demonstration point of the relationship between our neighbor and my husband. Things haven't gotten any better. The neighbor is still rude and inconsiderate. Mr. Fred is still holding a grudge and is rude right back. The neighbor mows the lawn and weed eats right outside our bedroom window at 8 o'clock in the morning on a Saturday, when I was working a 1:00 AM shift the night before. The bird screeches out of their kitchen window waking everyone up at 7:00 AM on a daily basis, etc.

Recently, the neighbor's bird, Holly, got away from them and flew into the trees right above our bedroom. How do we know about that? Mr. Fred had just gone to bed and was woken up by repetitive screeches that sounded right over his head.

Mr. Fred looked out of the bedroom window and saw the neighbor's 16+ year old son climbing our tree that has branches directly over the roof. Let's face it Mr. Fred was upset!

Many people don't know that if a child climbs a tree and then falls out of the tree, injuring themselves, it is the responsibility of the homeowner, even if the homeowner knew nothing about it. That's what went through Mr. Fred's head. The tree gets narrow the closer it gets to the roof and Mr. Fred was picturing the young man falling off the tree. Let's face it, he was also upset that his sleep was interrupted.

Mr. Fred goes outside onto the porch and yells at the kid to get out of the tree, explaining why he can't climb the tree. That's when he found out about the bird being in the branches of the tree above the roof. The neighbor tells us that "He didn't know his bird could fly. He has never done it before." They have had this bird for more than 2 years. I don't have a parrot or a bird but I KNOW that birds fly.

Mr. Fred goes back in the house. I follow Mr. Fred inside. I'm feeling concerned on behalf of the bird, embarrassed by Mr. Fred's behavior, in-comprehension/disbelief of the neighbor's statement and behavior, understanding of Mr. Fred's concern & behavior. A basic jumble of conflicting emotions. Mostly what I'm thinking about is putting myself in the neighbor's position and having a loved pet stuck in the tree. It has happened before, however, I'm polite and don't go climbing the neighbor's tree without permission.

20 minutes later a policeman knocks on the door. The neighbor had called the police to arbitrate. When I spoke with the policeman I explained that the kid had climbed the tree without permission. After confirming it with Mr. Fred, I didn't mind if they brought their ladder over and climbed our roof in order to reach the bird as long as there was an understanding that if someone fell we would not be held responsible. I also wanted to supervise. So, I went outside, and watched/helped them retrieve their bird from the tree branch above our roof.

Moral of the story? Think about your neighbor, be polite, ask before you trespass on your neighbor's property, don't use a bow and arrow in a residential area, clip your bird's wings before you let him/her outside! Finally, don't be rude! The world would be a better place if we were more polite and considerate of our neighbors.