‘Reported’ By A Neighbor

To The Editor:

Thirteen years ago I moved to Newtown looking for a country retreat; I simply wished to reside in a peaceful rural climate where people were friendly and respectful of their neighbors. Throughout this decade a steady decline in human decency has become apparent at the national level. I am sad to report that the mean spirited behavior observed in other communities is beginning to permeate Newtown.

The phenomenon that I am about to describe seems to violate one of the oldest tenets of God-given law: “Love Thy Neighbor.” Last weekend my family was enjoying the early fall weather, tending to our yard chores, when a Newtown police cruiser appeared in our driveway. Two officers introduced themselves and then politely informed us that we had been “reported.” “Reported” is a term that conjures up McCarthyism and the Salem witch trials, micro-versions of the accusatory attitude that seems prevalent in our country (especially “suburbia”) today.  Who filed the report? A “neighbor” (the term itself is paradoxical in this case). The offense? Our dog was heard barking! It was, after all, a scintillating autumn day, and Fido’s unrepressed expression of happiness manifested itself while he was sitting in the fenced-in yard watching the world go by. We had to acknowledge the transgression – although we were informed by the officers that the “accusers” did not have to do the same. They were to remain “nameless” and “faceless,” surreptitiously lying in wait, coiled and hissing in their own backyards, “watching and waiting.”

“Reporting” people for non-criminal offenses indicates the covert approach to “neighborly” interaction utilized by the suburban “witch hunters”; rather than resolving problems through direct (and presumably polite) discussion, the reaction seems to forsake community relations in favor of anonymous finger-pointing. Dear neighbors, hopefully none of you will ever have your pleasant Saturday afternoon ruined because you were “turned in” by a person too spineless to discuss an issue with you face-to-face.

Graham Ingels

Elm Drive, Newtown                                             October 5, 1999