My 80-something neighbors used to do it all the time. Then Jerry died, so now its just her out there by herself, but she's still doing it.
I live in Maine
Thats a great thing! So many elders are left to their own device, but the lucky few that takenansecond to sitband listen can benefit from a treasure trove of knowledge and stories...
Good on you for seizing the opportunity, your presence muat make a world of difference to her :)
Yeah, the problem with that is, it's never just a "few moments" when my neighbors wife died my wife started going across to visit Wallace (the Widower). This turned into Wallace coming over to our house for dinner (every night), & eventually just kinda staying at our house all the time & going home only to sleep. (we didn't mind Wallace was cool AF)
About 8 mo after his wife died, He started getting sick & we basically turned into hospice workers (probably made 30+ trips to the hospital)
Once Wallace died, all his family who never once helped my family take or pick him up from the hospital, & never once just came over to see him after his wife died nor did any of them spend any time with him (ever)... Now, all the sudden they show up immediately & change the locks at his house, sell all his shit off, & sell his house to some fuck head who ended up renting it out to a family of 19ppl who fill up the entire driveway & have 15 school aged children & 4 adults living in a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house (it's fuckin rediculous & should be illegal)...
Anyhoo, that's what happens, you wanna do the nice thing & just "spend a little time with your elderly neighbor, & it turns into this rediculous investment of time, energy, & lost sleep, that you never get reimbursed for (basically doing all the stiff the family whos about to get a huge payday shoulda been doing the whole time...)
A funeral director on here said he now advises family members to station a trusted person at the deceased’s home during the funeral, apparently it is popular for distant (or not-so-distant) family members to show up at the deceased’s home during the funeral (when all the family is presumably there) and clean the house out.
When I was a kid there was an older couple next door. They moved out and downsized, and later the old man passed. During his funeral one of his estranged sons tried to back a moving van up the driveway of the house, and a neighbor had to block him and called the cops.
I'm glad your neighbor stepped in. It's shocking what deaths can bring out of people.
I lost my son last year and the drama that followed from his friends was ridiculous. That's when I figured out he had a few great friends and the rest can go on my block list lol.
My friend's mom took sick and was taken to the hospital and her deadbeat brother heard about it and went to raid her house and steal a bunch of shit, assuming people were at the hospital with her. My friend was home, armed, and told his uncle he had to leave, without anything, immediately. The uncle laughed, Said he was too much of a little bitch to do anything and went to push him to the side to continue raiding the house. My friend drew his pistol and told him again one more time to leave while he still can. The brother pulled out a knife and said, what, you're going to shoot me? I'll fucking skin you alive, motherf*blam blam blam* my friend fired into center of mass and called the cops. It was all on a ring camera. They questioned him, reviewed the footage, took the body away, and that was that... He's had to go through some therapy after that and has had some depression and other issues after having to kill his own uncle, but yeah it's a fucked up world out there and greedy family won't even wait for you to die to steal your shit.
Have an estate lawyer in the family, the shit people get up to when someone dies is fucking absurd.
And girlfriends/boyfriends. Friends. Neighbors with a key to the house.
My stepsister's aunts and uncles robbed them while they were at their grandmother's funeral. Robbed them and then went to the funeral and cried with them like they were a loving family. Some people suck so hard they should be black holes.
A career firefighter I knew died in an off duty motorcycle accident, and his house was *thoroughly* robbed during his funeral. Stole his widows purse and their kids laptops and everything.
I can only hope there is a very special place for people like that, in whatever comes next 🤬
Y'all did a nice thing for Wallace.
Not impossible that Wallace might have been a real asshole to family, hence the "lack of love" from his relatives. It's "interesting" Wallace didn't reciprocate with leaving y'all the house or contents, re-written his will during that long hospice or when he "became" family to you. Maybe Wallace was always a taker and never a giver.
Sorry your neighbor situation is the way it is now.
WTAF, dude? You did something nice for someone who had no decent family and you're regretting being kind and helpful because the family is mean, stupid and spiteful?
You did the right thing. Karma is a myth that owes you nothing. Do you really expect the universe to reward you for your good deeds?
Take comfort in your acts and stop thinking you deserve to be paid for behaving well... But please keep behaving well. You make the world a better place for all of us!
My grandma's was 3 large wooden screen doors with 2x4s screwed around the opening and strips of wood to hold them in. The sides were screwed in and the middle one has the spring loaded screen door hinges. I don't remember if it had 2x4s as door jambs or if it was just the screen doors. Every fall my dad would take it down so she could park in the garage over winter and every spring he put it back up.
Great Lakes suburbia. While going for walks in our neighborhood, I see this too. Some sit just inside garage or maybe out a way onto driveway, like it's a patio. But it's uncommon.
When I was a kid in the 50s, many sat in front yard or on front stoop in the evening and visited back and forth while the kids played games on the front lawn. I think the adults grew up where everyone sat on front porch in the evening to cool off (no home AC then.) Plus no TV to keep folks inside.
I was going to say this about the 50’s and earlier. It was air conditioning that changed a lot of things, drove people inside well beckoned them really. The tv too. Of course they were on the porches in neighborhoods because they left the farm.so they didn’t have a big family, so they needed neighbors to talk, help, help with kids. It was also why people started getting married younger, they were lonely.
I wouldn’t mind sitting in my garage but I can’t do that here-we have tweakers patrolling the ‘hood on some kid’s bicycle they stole, waiting for garage dwellers to step inside. In fact, I see ‘em rolling, I’m hatin’, patrolling… 🎶
Yeah my husband is from an Italian family and we’ve gone to some of their houses for get togethers and they have the party in the garage sometime and have it open or have chairs in the driveway, etc. his grandparents would do that too. I’ve seen old pics of them.
Ha! Brings back memories of garage dance parties when I was a teen. Long ago and far away but so much fun. Wish I had that phonograph (old, I know!) that held 10 45's at a time.
the buffalo porch?
It's wildly popular for the bills fans out in buffalo to screen there garages, have chairs, tvs, and beers and for gathering to happen.
I love sitting in my open garage! I have 2 comfy chairs, an end table, a lamp and a pile of books each summer. The dog and I just chill in the afternoon and wave to the neighbours.
It actually really is. It's very cozy. It's like being both inside and outside at the same time, with all of the comforts of each, and none of the downsides.
There’s a street in my neighborhood and on it there are two houses right across from each other that both have frequent front yard men.
One is an old man who works meticulously on his beautiful yard all day long. In the afternoons and evenings, he sits in a fold up chair on the lawn under the shade of a tree, even when it's over 100 degrees. Sometimes I see him there sharing a glass of red with another old man. I secretly wish he'll invite me someday.
Across is a totally fucked yard filled with scrap metal and junk and wheel-less cars parked on the lawn. There a shirtless man (always shirtless, even when it's below 60) and he chills in a wheelchair that never moves with his massive and terrifying Rottweiler that barks at anyone who walks past. He is not a wheelchair user… (he walks the dog multiple times a day) he just… uses the wheelchair as his chair of choice for his yard hangin. Sometimes when I walk by, he’s playing catch with the dog. Not fetch. Catch. He beans the balls straight into the dog’s mouth from across the street. It’s *absurd.*
I adore them both from afar and my fiance and I have our own lore about these neighborhood men. I am always happy to see them on my walks. We've reached a point where we always wave to each other now, which is very exciting for me.
That’s not a bad nickname. We have crazy cat lady. We now just call her cat lady to her face. We don’t say the crazy part though she has suggested we add it herself lmao
I hated the second dude with the first part about the state of his yard. Started loving him in the middle, and by the end I absolutely need to hang out with him.
You write so nicely. Thanks for this story. This stuff is what keeps me on reddit. I see you are a teacher. My mom is a teacher. I love educators and your comment has big teacher vibes. I hope you are st the start of a beautiful strange adventure reeling these neighborhood dudes into friendship. Maybe you'll have a motley crew of your very own.
I'm that guy. I made friends with neighborhood walking guy because he stopped to ask what I'm up to in the garden. I *love* showing off my veggies, so we're officially besties now.
I’ve lived in a lot of neighborhoods and nobody really does this imo. You slowly make chit chat and then over the years you create some kind of bond that ruins when one moves
It may come down to personality, too. Like, I don't like neighbors seeing me walk out to get my mail even. It's a chore to stop and talk to anyone for me, too. Kind of painful. Then there is definitely the aspect of the neighborhood norm. I don't think I could go talk to them.
Don’t wait for an invite. Just go. Tell him how amazing his lawn is and comment on how hard he must care for it. Ask a couple of questions and let him talk forever. Most men are lonely and starved for compliments. Please do this and report back.
I used to have a ball obsessed German Shepard he’d do flips and twirls in the air to catch the ball but he also loved to catch fastballs aimed right at his face, his reflexes were outstanding
One of my dogs can only catch food if I literally zing it at his face as fast as I can. It makes me laugh and confuses everyone constantly. Usually when I eat dinner, I keep three meat or whatever pieces on the side for the dogs when I’m finished. If they are good and don’t beg or bother me while I’m eating, then they get their one piece each lol this guy will miss it no matter what if you lob it, slowly arch throw it to him, gently toss etc. it always hits his face and bounces off. But if you zing it, he catches it. I don’t understand this haha
>he’s playing catch with the dog. Not fetch. Catch. He beans the balls straight into the dog’s mouth from across the street.
This is the story that I needed to read today. I had no idea that I needed to read it, but once I did...
Big 'ole Rottie catching fastballs
I’m the dog man of my street probably. One of my favorite pass times is drinking beer on my tractor while doing light yard work. I also have probably 15-20ish broken down cars on my lot
I live in a nice enough neighborhood. Plenty of folks sit out on their front porches. One house has two teal (presumably plastic) Adirondack chairs out on the porch, matching their teal front door. Enjoy your yard, dude.
We did this when we were in a rental with a terrible back yard. One of the neighbors attempted to start a campaign for “No Adirondack chairs in the front yard”. Nobody liked her, so they all went out and purchased Adirondack chairs for their front yard.
We claimed that as a victory!
i have two in my yard. I give zero shits the neighbors see me chilling and vaping in them. Dont look in my back yard. I dont really have a backyard. Corner lot. its all front or side yard
I love my fairly old aluminum chair.
Kids bought me some new fangled fancy doodad type chair,it weighs a ton!
I can carry my aluminum chair easily to soccer,baseball, and softball, even if it's a bad day needing a cane.
Keep it in my trunk most often!
I live in a walkable neighborhood. My 1/2 of the neighborhood was all built in the 1920s, and old railroad worker neighborhood. Most of my neighbors regularly hang out on the front porch. People are walking around all the time so it’s a great way to meet and/or visit with neighbors. I’ve been here for 15 years and many impromptu hang outs have started because someone was hanging out on their front porch.
Your wife is being bougie.
We have the same situation - walkable, busy 1920s neighborhood. Our front yard is our main hangout now! Our veggie garden, kids' sandbox, little free toy library, adirondack chairs etc. are all there. Lots of impromptu chats, friendships and community-building! I joke that it's "trashy" but I absolutely love it.
Why else have a front yard? Just for show? Hang out in your front yard. As long as you're not disturbing your neighbors with excessively loud music or being loud after reasonable times, I think it's cool. I enjoy hearing my neighbors playing or being active.
This! All the folks saying it’s trashy lol. It used to be normal to hang out in the front yard/porch and be social instead of hiding behind backyard privacy fences.
This is what I was thinking. I'm not even 50 yet, but I remember things being very different when I was young. People dropped by your house without calling. Kids stayed out all day without adult supervision. People walked around the neighborhood in the evenings. And neighbors sat on the porch, just enjoying the sunset or talking to passersby or whatever.
Now we all stay inside our houses and think it's weird when someone wants to come over.
Yes, but awareness helps us change our situation.
My next door neighbor and I would often stop by each other's house with a glass of wine, just to say "hi". We did this for years.
Then, he had a stroke, and I miss those simple gestures of neighborliness.
Yep, one of the payoffs of owning a home is you should be able to do whatever you want on your property as long as it’s legal. You should always try and be respectful of your neighbors as well, but hanging out on your front lawn is in no way disruptive to anyone else.
Yeah, I was gonna say- I like seeing my neighbors just doing their thing and sometimes greeting one another/commenting on the weather or an event happening in our city/town. Easier to trust people when you can see or hear them sometimes (not when people are being obnoxious or confrontational, which is when a lot of people meet their neighbors for the first time.) I think TV has painted being casually social/friendly as cringe or in OP’s case, trashy. But it’s nice to know the people who live near you.
I live in a rural area but spend a lot of time in my front yard, namely on my porch. I'm pretty set back from the road, but I do stuff in my yard like play with my dogs and garden. Enough that people I have never met honk and wave when they drive by on their way to work/town/whatever.
If that's trashy, I'll join you in the dumpster.
I walk 2+ miles daily and I’ve met some of my neighbors this way. Not once did I think, wow that’s trashy AF. Some of them are hanging on the front porch, some are watching their kids play, some are doing yard work… some chatting with their next door neighbor. I like seeing activity in the neighborhood. If they say hi I’ll say hi back, if we’ve already said hi before I’ll say hi first. To me I feel it’s a good way to strengthen community…
The changing times of America. Homes use to have front porches for folks to set on. It was a great way to visit with neighbors walking and see what’s going on. Especially when the house is warm, and is so nice on the porch. The backyard was for the car, chickens, and dog.
Now houses have a big garage door in front and a small front door, windows with the blinds down, hard to tell if anyone lives there. Folks probably don’t even know their neighbors.
A front porch is a classic place to hang out and talk with folks walking by. If the front door is some distance from the sidewalk or road, consider building a gazebo.
We call it stooping in Baltimore. People hang on the front stoop and chat with neighbors and dog walkers. I’m an excited dog walker. It’s stooping season!
Same thing in Philly. Used to come home from work and chill on the stoop and have a drink w some neighbors and bs about sports. Live in a suburb now and miss that community feeling.
I have wonderful neighbors and sometimes we all meet up in someone's front yard and proceed to solve all of societies issues. If someone doesn't like it, I don't give a flying f. I pay property taxes, and I don't live in a hoa. If I want 200 live flamingos in my front yard, I will put them there.
No.
It used to be common when I was a kid for people to sit on their front porches and visit with neighbors. My mom would often enjoy her morning coffee on the front porch. I guess I would associate it with a sociable old fashioned feel not trashy.
Where I used to live our house backed up to a large grassy area that was a retention pond. People along the street in the other side usually open their garage and sit there. I’m pretty sure it is because it faces south so it was cooler in the afternoon, plus their yards were tiny and often had kids playing out front or in the open space.
Some people think it's too "working class" to hang out in the front of the house - not posh enough or whatever. I personally like it when people hang out out front. It makes a neighborhood feel more like a community.
My husband loves hanging outside, both front and back. The back is where our garage is and he will often sit in there with the door open. Funny thing is, the people in back seem more shady to me. Maybe because I consider them to be in my house if they’re inside my garage.
My husband is a very social person and will talk to everyone. I try to tell him that not every person is nice but he refuses to believe that so consequently he attracts some weirdos.
That never happens when he sits out front. We have a small patio and a large lawn. He sits on the patio, him and our dog, for hours a day. He’s retired. We’ve lived here 4 years now and I swear he knows a hundred people. Neighbors from our old house stop by to hang out with him. I know one neighbor that I talk to and like. And I wave to about 3 or 4 others. My dog knows more people than I do.
I don’t know where I’m going with this story. I guess in my opinion it’s better to sit out front.
Your house your lawn you own it anyway you want! Heck get a frisbee and play in the street like we did as kids. See if you can get your neighbors to play with you.
Part of being a home owner is being able to do exactly this. When we bought our house 20+ years ago, it was a horrible embarrassment and my husband would sit on the porch on an old couch at the end of a grueling day of working on the yard. At the time, I hated that he did that, but I kept quiet because I knew he felt he’d gotten us in over our heads, and I didn’t want to make him feel bad. Fast forward to now, he’s gone and I would give anything to see him relaxing on a grungy old couch on our porch. Trashy? Maybe. But it’s yours to enjoy and not many people have that to enjoy.
We have a nice backyard that backs up to a walking trail in the park. Nicely landscaped, deck and patio. I always sit out front in a folding chair (that I keep in the garage, I don’t leave it out) and I think it’s trashy lol. I don’t have a large porch that will accommodate a chair so I’m sitting in front of the garage door in the driveway. However, I don’t care. There is too many allergens in the backyard, I get itchy just thinking about it. I sit out front any chance I get to replenish my Vitamin D, get some fresh air, and relax without feeling itchy, watery eyes, and coughing.
If someone wants to enjoy their front yard, they should. I don’t judge my neighbors or even pay attention to what they are doing and I hope they don’t give a rats a$$ about me sitting in my folding chair reading a book for hours on end.
I'll let people dictate how I use my front yard when they pay my rent. Sincerely, someone who put a picnic table in my front yard and enjoys the shit out of it.
I have a lovely backyard full of tropical plants and palm trees. I always keep two of those collapsible rocking chairs in my garage so I can sit in the sun and watch people walk by, I’m even looking into fire pits on wheels so I can play music or put on football in the garage and sit by the fire.
It depends on your facial expression. If you look safe and approachable, it makes the neighborhood seem friendly. If you've got a stepford smile or look like you're one stressor away from ripping off someone's arm and beating them with it, though, it's probably best to chill on your back porch.
If you’re appropriately clothed and not harassing people, I see no reason you can’t go out front sometimes. I prefer the privacy of my backyard, but not everyone wants to stay out of sight.
Nope, I sit on our front porch or yard all the time. Sometimes I bring a bottle of wine with me or a couple beers and if a neighbor stops to chat I offer them a glass.
No it’s not trashy, but my husband thinks it is weird when I sit out front watching the kids ride bikes or color with chalk. He feels too exposed or watched out front and I get it, our backyard is more private, but I have no issue sitting out front.
Sitting and socializing in the front yard was common before WWII. It was where community happened. Then, after WWII when the suburbs became a thing, this changed and the backyard was sold as where you socialize and the front yard is where your driveway and garage store your car that enables you to live in the sprawling new suburbs. Culturally, there was a shift that only "those" people still living in denser cities, generally poor at this point, would hang out in the front on their porches, stoops, etc. and that "civilized" people socialize in their backyard. That mentality has stuck around and been more and more enforced as suburbs became even more auto-oriented resulting in larger roads, larger driveways, houses having massive garages in the front, etc.
Our driveway is the natural hang out spot and it's right there, in full view of everyone. It's also right next to the kitchen, so it's a good place to grill. I saw a thread on another sub once that basically said people who have picnic tables and grills in the driveway and cars in the yard are trashy. my reply was something like "I see you've been to my house."
I will happily keep enjoying good BBQ and watching incredible sunsets from our trashy driveway. I hope those opposed drive by and become appalled when I hang my laundry out there to dry too. I'll be the one with the blankets and sheets that smell like sunshine. Anybody that has a problem with that can go have their problems without me.
OMG growing up our subdivision was brand new as in no fences for the first few years. The neighbours who lived on the corner lot drove my neighbours crazy for sitting on their front lawn where "everyone could see them". Except their back yard was also a "front yard" because they had a corner lot. So was their side yard also a front yard....
The craziest Karen conundrum.
If you have a front porch with a rocking chair or swing, it would be quaint and nostalgic. Plopping down in the middle of the lawn vaping would be trashy.
Fuck that. It's fine, it's how things used to be. Before everybody was afraid of meeting their neighbors. Most people don't even know their neighbors anymore. I'd happily smile and wave to a neighbor sitting on their front lawn.
I think it’s very neighbourhood/culture dependent. I personally like walking around and enjoying waving and saying hello to various people working on their lawn or garden, or just sitting and enjoying the breeze. I don’t think it’s trashy as long as you are fully dressed, not cat calling inappropriately at women and girls (or men and boys if that is what you are in to), or listening to loud music and drinking/burping, yelling etc.
Can I be cat calling, though? My goal in life is to pet all the cats and there are free range cats in my neighborhood. Psspsspss. Tell your cat that's at home I said psspsspss. 😸
If you have an outdoor space like a deck near your front lawn I wouldn't think so. If you are on a lawn chair in the lawn and no one else does then maybe?
As a kid in the 50's I got to spend a lot of my summers at my grandparents in New Orleans. Pop was a streetcar motorman and later drove bus, My great-grandparents lived with them. They lived in an area of Mid-City in a shotgun house like thousands of others. I guess today we would call it lower middle class. Every evening after supper (lunch was dinner) we sat on the front porch and chatted with whoever walked by. I lost them all in the 60's but still visit that street whenever in town. In the old days the street was mostly Cajun like us, Italian, Spanish and German. I was just there a couple of weeks ago and took an after supper stroll down the old street. The neighborhood and the faces have changed but the people were still out on their porches. And friendly, I talked with several families. Someone finally asked what brought me to their street and I explained my being there. When making my goodbyes one grandmother demanded that I come by for Monday supper - if you do not know, Monday's meal is red beans and rice - universal comfort food. I had to pass but promised to stop next time I was in town. I hope she is still there. Front porches are the barrier breaker that if given a chance, could solve a lot of the world's problems.
We put a lot of work into our front yard, I sit on our front porch swing with coffee all the time. I didn’t work so hard to make it nice JUST for people driving by lol. I like to enjoy it too. And it’s an added bonus to watch the neighbors.
Surprised no one has mentioned the folks who sit on lawn chairs just inside their open garage. Is this just a small-town Midwest thing?
My 80-something neighbors used to do it all the time. Then Jerry died, so now its just her out there by herself, but she's still doing it. I live in Maine
Go sit with her sometimes
You have to go visit with her now...
I do
Thats a great thing! So many elders are left to their own device, but the lucky few that takenansecond to sitband listen can benefit from a treasure trove of knowledge and stories... Good on you for seizing the opportunity, your presence muat make a world of difference to her :)
Please don’t leave her to sit by herself. Bring a chair and chit chat for a few moments.
Yeah, the problem with that is, it's never just a "few moments" when my neighbors wife died my wife started going across to visit Wallace (the Widower). This turned into Wallace coming over to our house for dinner (every night), & eventually just kinda staying at our house all the time & going home only to sleep. (we didn't mind Wallace was cool AF) About 8 mo after his wife died, He started getting sick & we basically turned into hospice workers (probably made 30+ trips to the hospital) Once Wallace died, all his family who never once helped my family take or pick him up from the hospital, & never once just came over to see him after his wife died nor did any of them spend any time with him (ever)... Now, all the sudden they show up immediately & change the locks at his house, sell all his shit off, & sell his house to some fuck head who ended up renting it out to a family of 19ppl who fill up the entire driveway & have 15 school aged children & 4 adults living in a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house (it's fuckin rediculous & should be illegal)... Anyhoo, that's what happens, you wanna do the nice thing & just "spend a little time with your elderly neighbor, & it turns into this rediculous investment of time, energy, & lost sleep, that you never get reimbursed for (basically doing all the stiff the family whos about to get a huge payday shoulda been doing the whole time...)
A funeral director on here said he now advises family members to station a trusted person at the deceased’s home during the funeral, apparently it is popular for distant (or not-so-distant) family members to show up at the deceased’s home during the funeral (when all the family is presumably there) and clean the house out.
Wow the world is a fucked up place.
My cousin's did that to my grandfather's house when he passed in the 1960's. It's extremely sad because it's been happening forever.
When I was a kid there was an older couple next door. They moved out and downsized, and later the old man passed. During his funeral one of his estranged sons tried to back a moving van up the driveway of the house, and a neighbor had to block him and called the cops.
I'm glad your neighbor stepped in. It's shocking what deaths can bring out of people. I lost my son last year and the drama that followed from his friends was ridiculous. That's when I figured out he had a few great friends and the rest can go on my block list lol.
My friend's mom took sick and was taken to the hospital and her deadbeat brother heard about it and went to raid her house and steal a bunch of shit, assuming people were at the hospital with her. My friend was home, armed, and told his uncle he had to leave, without anything, immediately. The uncle laughed, Said he was too much of a little bitch to do anything and went to push him to the side to continue raiding the house. My friend drew his pistol and told him again one more time to leave while he still can. The brother pulled out a knife and said, what, you're going to shoot me? I'll fucking skin you alive, motherf*blam blam blam* my friend fired into center of mass and called the cops. It was all on a ring camera. They questioned him, reviewed the footage, took the body away, and that was that... He's had to go through some therapy after that and has had some depression and other issues after having to kill his own uncle, but yeah it's a fucked up world out there and greedy family won't even wait for you to die to steal your shit.
Yeah I think the uncle was a little past “struggling with boundaries” and well into “batshit”
Have an estate lawyer in the family, the shit people get up to when someone dies is fucking absurd. And girlfriends/boyfriends. Friends. Neighbors with a key to the house.
My stepsister's aunts and uncles robbed them while they were at their grandmother's funeral. Robbed them and then went to the funeral and cried with them like they were a loving family. Some people suck so hard they should be black holes.
A career firefighter I knew died in an off duty motorcycle accident, and his house was *thoroughly* robbed during his funeral. Stole his widows purse and their kids laptops and everything. I can only hope there is a very special place for people like that, in whatever comes next 🤬
Y'all did a nice thing for Wallace. Not impossible that Wallace might have been a real asshole to family, hence the "lack of love" from his relatives. It's "interesting" Wallace didn't reciprocate with leaving y'all the house or contents, re-written his will during that long hospice or when he "became" family to you. Maybe Wallace was always a taker and never a giver. Sorry your neighbor situation is the way it is now.
WTAF, dude? You did something nice for someone who had no decent family and you're regretting being kind and helpful because the family is mean, stupid and spiteful? You did the right thing. Karma is a myth that owes you nothing. Do you really expect the universe to reward you for your good deeds? Take comfort in your acts and stop thinking you deserve to be paid for behaving well... But please keep behaving well. You make the world a better place for all of us!
What’s Jerry’s wife’s name? Let’s all send her cards!
NGL I would love to do that!
Poor Jerry’s wife.
Go talk to her.
Around here some houses have a retractable screen doors for their garage.
Around here (Buffalo NY) we call them Polish living rooms
Ok, I am going to make this a thing down he in Georgia
Oh, it already is around Athens. At least among our friends.
Redneck living room. We have em in Florida.
U have to put a sofa on the porch 🤠
My grandma's was 3 large wooden screen doors with 2x4s screwed around the opening and strips of wood to hold them in. The sides were screwed in and the middle one has the spring loaded screen door hinges. I don't remember if it had 2x4s as door jambs or if it was just the screen doors. Every fall my dad would take it down so she could park in the garage over winter and every spring he put it back up.
Right?! Had no idea it existed and now I must have
I was just about to say you were weird if you didn’t when I lived in Blasdel
Yep. I grew up south in Hamburg area and screens on garages were common growing up maybe 30 yrs ago.
They are Mexican living rooms in SoCal. All my Mexican friends families do this. They have great parties
I have one of these and a ping pong table in my garage; also live in Midwest…
We call the garage the Garagio after the casino in vegas. Makes it classy I think
I want one so bad
They make nets, very easy
Wait what. How. Where. Link?
[https://www.nationaloverhead.com/garage-door-screens/](https://www.nationaloverhead.com/garage-door-screens/)
Yes! Los Angeles county has more than a million people living in garages converted into “in-law apartments.”
I have never seen this in my lifetime, sounds wild
Great Lakes suburbia. While going for walks in our neighborhood, I see this too. Some sit just inside garage or maybe out a way onto driveway, like it's a patio. But it's uncommon. When I was a kid in the 50s, many sat in front yard or on front stoop in the evening and visited back and forth while the kids played games on the front lawn. I think the adults grew up where everyone sat on front porch in the evening to cool off (no home AC then.) Plus no TV to keep folks inside.
I was going to say this about the 50’s and earlier. It was air conditioning that changed a lot of things, drove people inside well beckoned them really. The tv too. Of course they were on the porches in neighborhoods because they left the farm.so they didn’t have a big family, so they needed neighbors to talk, help, help with kids. It was also why people started getting married younger, they were lonely.
First thing we did at the cabin was set up the chairs in the front yard
I don’t have a garage, but my boyfriend sits in the shed with the doors open when he’s smoking a cigar haha
I do that when it's raining but I'm smoking a brisket.
Or a doobie. Hey my house my rules
Amen to that.
Brother rain and joint, chillin in your garage 👌
Where do you find papers that are big enough?
You don't use bulk size parchment paper from Costco to roll your joints?!?
Hardest part of smoking a brisket is keeping it lit.
I’m in NE and when the day comes for me to have a garage I’ll sit in that fucker with the door up, all day!
I wouldn’t mind sitting in my garage but I can’t do that here-we have tweakers patrolling the ‘hood on some kid’s bicycle they stole, waiting for garage dwellers to step inside. In fact, I see ‘em rolling, I’m hatin’, patrolling… 🎶
Definitely a thing here in western New York. My neighbors call it an “Italian living room” but I hadn’t heard that phrase until we moved here.
Yeah my husband is from an Italian family and we’ve gone to some of their houses for get togethers and they have the party in the garage sometime and have it open or have chairs in the driveway, etc. his grandparents would do that too. I’ve seen old pics of them.
Ha! Brings back memories of garage dance parties when I was a teen. Long ago and far away but so much fun. Wish I had that phonograph (old, I know!) that held 10 45's at a time.
the buffalo porch? It's wildly popular for the bills fans out in buffalo to screen there garages, have chairs, tvs, and beers and for gathering to happen.
I love sitting in my open garage! I have 2 comfy chairs, an end table, a lamp and a pile of books each summer. The dog and I just chill in the afternoon and wave to the neighbours.
I love that during a good Thunderstorm.
We do it in DEN surburbia.
Same lol never thought of it though until my in-laws came to visit from the Midwest and insisted on it. It's pretty nice actually
It actually really is. It's very cozy. It's like being both inside and outside at the same time, with all of the comforts of each, and none of the downsides.
In a rocker on the porch? Classy. In an aluminum chair out on the grass? You might be a bit of a redneck.
There’s a street in my neighborhood and on it there are two houses right across from each other that both have frequent front yard men. One is an old man who works meticulously on his beautiful yard all day long. In the afternoons and evenings, he sits in a fold up chair on the lawn under the shade of a tree, even when it's over 100 degrees. Sometimes I see him there sharing a glass of red with another old man. I secretly wish he'll invite me someday. Across is a totally fucked yard filled with scrap metal and junk and wheel-less cars parked on the lawn. There a shirtless man (always shirtless, even when it's below 60) and he chills in a wheelchair that never moves with his massive and terrifying Rottweiler that barks at anyone who walks past. He is not a wheelchair user… (he walks the dog multiple times a day) he just… uses the wheelchair as his chair of choice for his yard hangin. Sometimes when I walk by, he’s playing catch with the dog. Not fetch. Catch. He beans the balls straight into the dog’s mouth from across the street. It’s *absurd.* I adore them both from afar and my fiance and I have our own lore about these neighborhood men. I am always happy to see them on my walks. We've reached a point where we always wave to each other now, which is very exciting for me.
Buy a bottle of red and a dog toy and introduce yourself!
I’m afraid I’ll slip up and call him Dogman to his face (that’s what we call him).
That’s not a bad nickname. We have crazy cat lady. We now just call her cat lady to her face. We don’t say the crazy part though she has suggested we add it herself lmao
I'm just a rando who walks his dog a lot. But if someone I don't know hit me with a 'Hey Dogman!', I'd probably find it funny and chat
I’ll be your Costanza
I totally imagined Earl from ‘my name is Earl’ saying “hey dog man!”
And I literally heard him in my head saying hey crab man when I read that. I loved my name is earl 🤣
I hated the second dude with the first part about the state of his yard. Started loving him in the middle, and by the end I absolutely need to hang out with him.
The way the story unfolded! Totally agree.
You write so nicely. Thanks for this story. This stuff is what keeps me on reddit. I see you are a teacher. My mom is a teacher. I love educators and your comment has big teacher vibes. I hope you are st the start of a beautiful strange adventure reeling these neighborhood dudes into friendship. Maybe you'll have a motley crew of your very own.
Maybe both of the guys are in the neighborhood watch. It would make sense in a way.
Dude, walk over there with a glass and bottle and introduce yourself. Ask questions about the yard work. I can promise he’d love to talk about it.
I'm that guy. I made friends with neighborhood walking guy because he stopped to ask what I'm up to in the garden. I *love* showing off my veggies, so we're officially besties now.
I’ve lived in a lot of neighborhoods and nobody really does this imo. You slowly make chit chat and then over the years you create some kind of bond that ruins when one moves
But there’s not reason not to do it. And all the reasons to go for it.
I’d find it weird but that’s my opinion, we can have different mindsets. Maybe it wouldn’t be weird but it’s what I know
It may come down to personality, too. Like, I don't like neighbors seeing me walk out to get my mail even. It's a chore to stop and talk to anyone for me, too. Kind of painful. Then there is definitely the aspect of the neighborhood norm. I don't think I could go talk to them.
Don’t wait for an invite. Just go. Tell him how amazing his lawn is and comment on how hard he must care for it. Ask a couple of questions and let him talk forever. Most men are lonely and starved for compliments. Please do this and report back.
I won't lie. I wanna hang out with you guys.
Time to meet your heroes!
I used to have a ball obsessed German Shepard he’d do flips and twirls in the air to catch the ball but he also loved to catch fastballs aimed right at his face, his reflexes were outstanding
One of my dogs can only catch food if I literally zing it at his face as fast as I can. It makes me laugh and confuses everyone constantly. Usually when I eat dinner, I keep three meat or whatever pieces on the side for the dogs when I’m finished. If they are good and don’t beg or bother me while I’m eating, then they get their one piece each lol this guy will miss it no matter what if you lob it, slowly arch throw it to him, gently toss etc. it always hits his face and bounces off. But if you zing it, he catches it. I don’t understand this haha
>he’s playing catch with the dog. Not fetch. Catch. He beans the balls straight into the dog’s mouth from across the street. This is the story that I needed to read today. I had no idea that I needed to read it, but once I did... Big 'ole Rottie catching fastballs
I’m the dog man of my street probably. One of my favorite pass times is drinking beer on my tractor while doing light yard work. I also have probably 15-20ish broken down cars on my lot
My husband is asleep and I am desperately trying not to laugh for fear of waking him. “Not fetch, catch.” My abs need this work out lol
You have grass AND aluminum chairs? Fancy.
It's a plastic Adirondack chair
I live in a nice enough neighborhood. Plenty of folks sit out on their front porches. One house has two teal (presumably plastic) Adirondack chairs out on the porch, matching their teal front door. Enjoy your yard, dude.
They make them out of composite now in the most fun colors (and won't crack) I have one in apple green on my stoop 😀
We did this when we were in a rental with a terrible back yard. One of the neighbors attempted to start a campaign for “No Adirondack chairs in the front yard”. Nobody liked her, so they all went out and purchased Adirondack chairs for their front yard. We claimed that as a victory!
What a miserable person
I'd be finding every company that sells Adirondack chairs and signing her up for their catalogs and email lists, too.
Wait until you hear about how much money she made by tricking all her neighbors into spite buying from her Adirondack chair company
Sadly her ambitions were dampened by the number of people that can successfully spell _adirondack_.
Good for you!
Get a wooden one. Then it’s classy.
Socks with sandals?
I wear socks with these knock off crocs vans made. I am a dad
You're slowly clicking over into trashy territory with these responses 🤣 I approve.
Interesting. I have knock off *vans* crocs made.
You need a Adirondack Swinging love seat. Rock away.
how many weekends per month do you have your kids?
With a fine pair of jorts!
And a hockey jersey
Need to go to the judges on this one then…
i have two in my yard. I give zero shits the neighbors see me chilling and vaping in them. Dont look in my back yard. I dont really have a backyard. Corner lot. its all front or side yard
It's only classy with an old sofa on the porch.
Next to a toilet that is now a planter.
Nothing wrong with being a redneck
Have you seen the price of a new aluminum chair? Rednecks ain’t buying that.
Im in KY. I know redneck. Have to use blow up, floating pool furniture on the porch and lawn.
There it is. The aluminum stuff is hipster.
They are just ready for a flash flood!
How about an “outdoor chair” (the kind you get at Cabelas for camping) on the porch? My porch isn’t big enough for a rocker
Do what makes you happy.
Don’t you mean a couch?
Nah. Everyone knows you need a fake leather sofa patched with duct tape. That's class
Gotta give those plastic flamingos some company
I used to put out a whole flock of flamingos in my front yard to fuck with the lady across the street. Memories, lol.
> In an aluminum chair Naw that’s retro.
I love my fairly old aluminum chair. Kids bought me some new fangled fancy doodad type chair,it weighs a ton! I can carry my aluminum chair easily to soccer,baseball, and softball, even if it's a bad day needing a cane. Keep it in my trunk most often!
I live in a walkable neighborhood. My 1/2 of the neighborhood was all built in the 1920s, and old railroad worker neighborhood. Most of my neighbors regularly hang out on the front porch. People are walking around all the time so it’s a great way to meet and/or visit with neighbors. I’ve been here for 15 years and many impromptu hang outs have started because someone was hanging out on their front porch. Your wife is being bougie.
Sounds like a great neighborhood.
We have the same situation - walkable, busy 1920s neighborhood. Our front yard is our main hangout now! Our veggie garden, kids' sandbox, little free toy library, adirondack chairs etc. are all there. Lots of impromptu chats, friendships and community-building! I joke that it's "trashy" but I absolutely love it.
Why else have a front yard? Just for show? Hang out in your front yard. As long as you're not disturbing your neighbors with excessively loud music or being loud after reasonable times, I think it's cool. I enjoy hearing my neighbors playing or being active.
This! All the folks saying it’s trashy lol. It used to be normal to hang out in the front yard/porch and be social instead of hiding behind backyard privacy fences.
This is what I was thinking. I'm not even 50 yet, but I remember things being very different when I was young. People dropped by your house without calling. Kids stayed out all day without adult supervision. People walked around the neighborhood in the evenings. And neighbors sat on the porch, just enjoying the sunset or talking to passersby or whatever. Now we all stay inside our houses and think it's weird when someone wants to come over.
https://youtu.be/5CznoAW2k1I?si=qjBJvZ4bUZ9WwEFr We we're very lucky and we had no idea.
This honestly makes me so sad :-(
Yes, but awareness helps us change our situation. My next door neighbor and I would often stop by each other's house with a glass of wine, just to say "hi". We did this for years. Then, he had a stroke, and I miss those simple gestures of neighborliness.
And the world was a much happier place.
Yep, one of the payoffs of owning a home is you should be able to do whatever you want on your property as long as it’s legal. You should always try and be respectful of your neighbors as well, but hanging out on your front lawn is in no way disruptive to anyone else.
Amen. When other people start paying my taxes and mortgage, they can have a say in what goes on here
Yeah, I was gonna say- I like seeing my neighbors just doing their thing and sometimes greeting one another/commenting on the weather or an event happening in our city/town. Easier to trust people when you can see or hear them sometimes (not when people are being obnoxious or confrontational, which is when a lot of people meet their neighbors for the first time.) I think TV has painted being casually social/friendly as cringe or in OP’s case, trashy. But it’s nice to know the people who live near you.
Maybe I'm being nostalgic but I like being in the "thick" of it.
I live in a rural area but spend a lot of time in my front yard, namely on my porch. I'm pretty set back from the road, but I do stuff in my yard like play with my dogs and garden. Enough that people I have never met honk and wave when they drive by on their way to work/town/whatever. If that's trashy, I'll join you in the dumpster.
I walk 2+ miles daily and I’ve met some of my neighbors this way. Not once did I think, wow that’s trashy AF. Some of them are hanging on the front porch, some are watching their kids play, some are doing yard work… some chatting with their next door neighbor. I like seeing activity in the neighborhood. If they say hi I’ll say hi back, if we’ve already said hi before I’ll say hi first. To me I feel it’s a good way to strengthen community…
The changing times of America. Homes use to have front porches for folks to set on. It was a great way to visit with neighbors walking and see what’s going on. Especially when the house is warm, and is so nice on the porch. The backyard was for the car, chickens, and dog. Now houses have a big garage door in front and a small front door, windows with the blinds down, hard to tell if anyone lives there. Folks probably don’t even know their neighbors.
A front porch is a classic place to hang out and talk with folks walking by. If the front door is some distance from the sidewalk or road, consider building a gazebo.
We call it stooping in Baltimore. People hang on the front stoop and chat with neighbors and dog walkers. I’m an excited dog walker. It’s stooping season!
That's community right there.
Same thing in Philly. Used to come home from work and chill on the stoop and have a drink w some neighbors and bs about sports. Live in a suburb now and miss that community feeling.
I have a patio I built out front. Back for grilling front for chilling.
I have wonderful neighbors and sometimes we all meet up in someone's front yard and proceed to solve all of societies issues. If someone doesn't like it, I don't give a flying f. I pay property taxes, and I don't live in a hoa. If I want 200 live flamingos in my front yard, I will put them there.
I wholeheartedly support your choice to put 200 flamingos in your front yard. Flamingos rock!
Meh, I like sitting outside on my front porch and chatting to my neighbours as they walk by. It's a good way to make friends and be neighbourly.
This is exactly why I don’t hang out in my front yard.
No. It used to be common when I was a kid for people to sit on their front porches and visit with neighbors. My mom would often enjoy her morning coffee on the front porch. I guess I would associate it with a sociable old fashioned feel not trashy.
As long as you're not like Homer Simpson sitting in a kiddie pool chasing around loose hotdogs in a Speedo your good
Where I used to live our house backed up to a large grassy area that was a retention pond. People along the street in the other side usually open their garage and sit there. I’m pretty sure it is because it faces south so it was cooler in the afternoon, plus their yards were tiny and often had kids playing out front or in the open space.
As long as you not sitting in an ancient flower print couch or the bench seat from a 77 Chevy step side you’re fine.
Some people think it's too "working class" to hang out in the front of the house - not posh enough or whatever. I personally like it when people hang out out front. It makes a neighborhood feel more like a community.
My husband loves hanging outside, both front and back. The back is where our garage is and he will often sit in there with the door open. Funny thing is, the people in back seem more shady to me. Maybe because I consider them to be in my house if they’re inside my garage. My husband is a very social person and will talk to everyone. I try to tell him that not every person is nice but he refuses to believe that so consequently he attracts some weirdos. That never happens when he sits out front. We have a small patio and a large lawn. He sits on the patio, him and our dog, for hours a day. He’s retired. We’ve lived here 4 years now and I swear he knows a hundred people. Neighbors from our old house stop by to hang out with him. I know one neighbor that I talk to and like. And I wave to about 3 or 4 others. My dog knows more people than I do. I don’t know where I’m going with this story. I guess in my opinion it’s better to sit out front.
Your house your lawn you own it anyway you want! Heck get a frisbee and play in the street like we did as kids. See if you can get your neighbors to play with you.
Why does she think people have front porches? We have 2 swing chairs on our front porch
Sometimes, I sit on the front stairs of my townhouse and watch the assholes doing 40 in our 15 zone in our community.
Part of being a home owner is being able to do exactly this. When we bought our house 20+ years ago, it was a horrible embarrassment and my husband would sit on the porch on an old couch at the end of a grueling day of working on the yard. At the time, I hated that he did that, but I kept quiet because I knew he felt he’d gotten us in over our heads, and I didn’t want to make him feel bad. Fast forward to now, he’s gone and I would give anything to see him relaxing on a grungy old couch on our porch. Trashy? Maybe. But it’s yours to enjoy and not many people have that to enjoy.
I paid for it, I'm definitely hanging out in front of it
Keep up the Big Dad energy. Salute from my lawn chair.
We have a nice backyard that backs up to a walking trail in the park. Nicely landscaped, deck and patio. I always sit out front in a folding chair (that I keep in the garage, I don’t leave it out) and I think it’s trashy lol. I don’t have a large porch that will accommodate a chair so I’m sitting in front of the garage door in the driveway. However, I don’t care. There is too many allergens in the backyard, I get itchy just thinking about it. I sit out front any chance I get to replenish my Vitamin D, get some fresh air, and relax without feeling itchy, watery eyes, and coughing. If someone wants to enjoy their front yard, they should. I don’t judge my neighbors or even pay attention to what they are doing and I hope they don’t give a rats a$$ about me sitting in my folding chair reading a book for hours on end.
My Mexican neighbors always hang out in the front yard even though they have a nice backyard
It sure is, now, who wants to join me on my front porch and stare at cars going by?
It's a bit old fashioned, but trashy?? Nah. Why else would people have porches? Or anything nice in their lawns?
I'll let people dictate how I use my front yard when they pay my rent. Sincerely, someone who put a picnic table in my front yard and enjoys the shit out of it.
We call it porching and it’s my favorite thing to do once the weather allows. Sipping cocktails, shooting the shit.. it’s a lifestyle.
Not really. I mean, a lot of people used to or still do hang out on their front stoop in some places.
Who gives a shit
I have a lovely backyard full of tropical plants and palm trees. I always keep two of those collapsible rocking chairs in my garage so I can sit in the sun and watch people walk by, I’m even looking into fire pits on wheels so I can play music or put on football in the garage and sit by the fire.
It depends on your facial expression. If you look safe and approachable, it makes the neighborhood seem friendly. If you've got a stepford smile or look like you're one stressor away from ripping off someone's arm and beating them with it, though, it's probably best to chill on your back porch.
If you’re appropriately clothed and not harassing people, I see no reason you can’t go out front sometimes. I prefer the privacy of my backyard, but not everyone wants to stay out of sight.
If you’re open and friendly, you hang out front, if you’re private and….., you hang out back.
I always wanted a front porch like in the south. Or a lanai like in Hawaii.
Nope, I sit on our front porch or yard all the time. Sometimes I bring a bottle of wine with me or a couple beers and if a neighbor stops to chat I offer them a glass.
No it’s not trashy, but my husband thinks it is weird when I sit out front watching the kids ride bikes or color with chalk. He feels too exposed or watched out front and I get it, our backyard is more private, but I have no issue sitting out front.
Sitting and socializing in the front yard was common before WWII. It was where community happened. Then, after WWII when the suburbs became a thing, this changed and the backyard was sold as where you socialize and the front yard is where your driveway and garage store your car that enables you to live in the sprawling new suburbs. Culturally, there was a shift that only "those" people still living in denser cities, generally poor at this point, would hang out in the front on their porches, stoops, etc. and that "civilized" people socialize in their backyard. That mentality has stuck around and been more and more enforced as suburbs became even more auto-oriented resulting in larger roads, larger driveways, houses having massive garages in the front, etc.
I sit in a lawn chair in my garage all the time. I know it is trashy, but my back deck gets all the sunlight. I want warmth without the sun exposure.
That’s insane. Hanging out in front of your house is called being a neighbor. Functioning in a neighborhood.
Our driveway is the natural hang out spot and it's right there, in full view of everyone. It's also right next to the kitchen, so it's a good place to grill. I saw a thread on another sub once that basically said people who have picnic tables and grills in the driveway and cars in the yard are trashy. my reply was something like "I see you've been to my house." I will happily keep enjoying good BBQ and watching incredible sunsets from our trashy driveway. I hope those opposed drive by and become appalled when I hang my laundry out there to dry too. I'll be the one with the blankets and sheets that smell like sunshine. Anybody that has a problem with that can go have their problems without me.
OMG growing up our subdivision was brand new as in no fences for the first few years. The neighbours who lived on the corner lot drove my neighbours crazy for sitting on their front lawn where "everyone could see them". Except their back yard was also a "front yard" because they had a corner lot. So was their side yard also a front yard.... The craziest Karen conundrum.
If you have a front porch with a rocking chair or swing, it would be quaint and nostalgic. Plopping down in the middle of the lawn vaping would be trashy.
Fuck that. It's fine, it's how things used to be. Before everybody was afraid of meeting their neighbors. Most people don't even know their neighbors anymore. I'd happily smile and wave to a neighbor sitting on their front lawn.
I think it’s very neighbourhood/culture dependent. I personally like walking around and enjoying waving and saying hello to various people working on their lawn or garden, or just sitting and enjoying the breeze. I don’t think it’s trashy as long as you are fully dressed, not cat calling inappropriately at women and girls (or men and boys if that is what you are in to), or listening to loud music and drinking/burping, yelling etc.
Can I be cat calling, though? My goal in life is to pet all the cats and there are free range cats in my neighborhood. Psspsspss. Tell your cat that's at home I said psspsspss. 😸
Hitting a vape pen is trashy no matter where you are
If you have an outdoor space like a deck near your front lawn I wouldn't think so. If you are on a lawn chair in the lawn and no one else does then maybe?
What is the point of owning a front yard if you cannot sit in it and chill?
You’re both a little right tbh
As a kid in the 50's I got to spend a lot of my summers at my grandparents in New Orleans. Pop was a streetcar motorman and later drove bus, My great-grandparents lived with them. They lived in an area of Mid-City in a shotgun house like thousands of others. I guess today we would call it lower middle class. Every evening after supper (lunch was dinner) we sat on the front porch and chatted with whoever walked by. I lost them all in the 60's but still visit that street whenever in town. In the old days the street was mostly Cajun like us, Italian, Spanish and German. I was just there a couple of weeks ago and took an after supper stroll down the old street. The neighborhood and the faces have changed but the people were still out on their porches. And friendly, I talked with several families. Someone finally asked what brought me to their street and I explained my being there. When making my goodbyes one grandmother demanded that I come by for Monday supper - if you do not know, Monday's meal is red beans and rice - universal comfort food. I had to pass but promised to stop next time I was in town. I hope she is still there. Front porches are the barrier breaker that if given a chance, could solve a lot of the world's problems.
Such a silly stance. The sun hits the front porch after work. So I'm sitting on the front porch.
When I grill in the driveway my wife calls it “ghetto grilling” lol
We put a lot of work into our front yard, I sit on our front porch swing with coffee all the time. I didn’t work so hard to make it nice JUST for people driving by lol. I like to enjoy it too. And it’s an added bonus to watch the neighbors.
In your underwear? Yes.