end of an era?

Could the door slamming have ended... forever???

When I spoke with a very wise woman (with very reasonable rates) about the door slamming neighbors, she came up with a very simple idea: perhaps my neighbors were slamming the door (or not as careful with the door as they could be) not because they were evil people, but because I wasn't interested in being friends with them.

Backstory: When they first moved in, we had some interesting back and forth about how "you guys should come over for a glass of wine" and what not, but after hearing them scream so passionately at one another, I knew that no matter what, we weren't going to be close friends. I'm not a screamer. I'm just not comfortable with it. My family doesn't scream. We stew.

Anyway, I never really followed up on their offer of friendship, so why should they follow up on my requests to close the door quietly? It's a twisted logic, but it makes total sense to me.

So recently, I started leaving my old magazines on the corner of the handrail (is there a better word for that? If so, it's escaping me) with notes that said "want me? I'm yours!" And they started disappearing. So I left other ones -- Cosmo, Entertainment Weekly, Weekend Magazine -- all kind of crap magazines, unfortunately, but they were the small peace offering I had to make. And they kept going away. Awesome!

Then one day I got a note under my door. I got worried when I saw it, but one cursory glance revealed a smiley face, so I knew I was in safe territory. The wife of the pair was thanking me for my gestures, but telling me they didn't really want my garbage magazines. (hell, I didn't either!) But they appreciated the thought, and apologized for perhaps being a little over the top in the last letter.

So, as a coup de grace (or, appropriately a boo! de grace), last night I left halloween cupcakes out there.

It feels so much better this way.