Roaring engines. Spilled coffee. And laughter

Midmorning.
I’m taking Sunny and Flipper for a walk.
One of my neighbors is out.
So we stop to chat for a few minutes.
First question I’m asked, “How do you like the changes in our neighborhood?”
The next question came before I could even think of an answer, “And why do they have so many cars?! Loud engines — it makes me jump every time they start the cars. What kind of people…!”

I live in an old neighborhood.
Once upon the time this was the part of town where doctors, architects, and other professionals wanted to live.
That was 30 years ago. A lot has changed.
Many of the older inhabitants have moved on to assisted living. The remaining are faced with a “new crop” of neighbors.

Tattoo-clad
By today’s standards these are modest homes. Attracting first-time buyers.
We now have a neighborhood where Millennials, some with tattoo-clad arms and legs, live next door to people from the “old guard.”
Neither too pleased with the other.

A culture clash between the old and the new.

Flipper likes them
Back to my midmorning walk. The neighbor asks with a reproaching tone,
“And why are you so nice to them?!”
Me: “Flipper likes them.”
Then I quickly walk away.
(What?! Like you never used your pets to get out of trouble.)

I’m Swiss
Apparently, the two sides have had some heated-conversations; because earlier in the week, I heard from the other side:
“I don’t know what their problem is?!  We have nice cars — there is no reason for them to complain!”

Wisdom, life experience, vitality, a new way of looking at things.  And more.
There is a lot they can learn from each other.
But they are too busy criticizing each other’s shortcomings.
Real or imagined.
(I pretend I’m Swiss, and stay neutral. They’ll figure things out.)

Roaring engine
We get back home. Flipper and Sunny get on their stands. I go pour myself some coffee.
As I take a sip I hear: “Vroom!!! The Camaro’s engine is roaring.
It’s never a good thing to laugh with your mouth full. Coffee splattering all over my desk.
Sunny and Flipper are happily vocalizing — thinking I’m laughing at something they did.

Enough goofing around, I better get back to work.
Should go make me another coffee — I think it’s safe now.

Update: The race is on
The “old guard” had a get-together over the weekend. One of their guests, made a grand entrance:  truck with a roaring engine.
The Camaro I mentioned earlier? That engine is a kitten. The yellow truck’s engine is a cat from the jungle. A big cat.
I guess the old guard is saying, “The race is on!”
If I would pick a favorite I would go with the truck.
(It’s yellow : )

Mariana Fieraru

Mariana Fieraru, an Eastern European transplant, fell in love with her new home shortly after landing in New York. She "discovered" pizza! Years later she still loves pizza. And so do her two feathered-kids, Sunny and Flipper

Mariana worked on both, the east and the west coast.
Big or small, each project she worked on helped define the importance of gaining and sustaining a competitive edge in an increasingly complex business environment.

Business know-how, love of teaching and writing – all combined in 2006 to form OBI.
Its mission: to make learning fun! And easy.

Through its training, consulting, and publications OBI builds bridges of knowledge to take you from where you are to
where you want to go. Using a mix of serious, informal, analytical, and optimistic approach, OBI truly makes learning fun.

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