KristyWes

Neighbors

So I have this neighbor, let's call her "Brownie." (This pseudonym is not racially motivated, but rather dessert motivated; her actual name is also a baked good.) Brownie has lived in the building for many years, and livened up the drab hallway on our floor with, among other things, a poster of a golden retreiver holding 3 tennis balls in his mouth, a painting of 2 men (who may be former Supreme Court Justices, I am unclear on this), some "Support Our Troops" stickers, a couple plants, and a full length mirror.

In the past few weeks, Brownie has enhanced the existing decor with some holiday spirit - she wrapped the plants' tables in red and green paper, and hung a wreath and a few "Merry Christmas" signs on her door.

Today, however, I arrived home to find that the holiday decorations had virtually exploded and multiplied - a 'Santas of the World' figurine collection has replaced one of the plants, and the walls are now covered with images of candy canes, mistletoe, and reindeer. These images spill down the staircase into the 4th floor hallway, and up the stairs leading to the roof: the 5th floor cannot contain Brownie's festivity! It runneth over with Christmas cheer.

I walked slowly to my apartment, scarcely able to absorb the "splendor" of it all and stiffling a laugh. At the end of the hall, hanging between my door and my other neighbor's door, was perhaps the best part of all: a small, shiny metallic "Happy Hannukah" banner taped to the wall.

I am not sure who made this interfaith contribution to the holiday-riffic hallway - some of you readers at home may suspect it was me, but I swear it wasn't. My other neighbor has a mezzuzah on his door and an Israeli-sounding name, so the banner seems to be in deference to him. But it's anyone's guess if he hung it there himself, in an attempt to maintain his Jewish identity in the face of so many miniature Santas staring back at him, or was it placed there by Brownie, a decorating concession made in effort to promote 5th floor religious harmony?

If I find out, I'll let you know. In the meantime, Season's Greetings!