“Serving overseas as a small-town boy from America is intense, stressful and humorous! Enjoy a light-hearted story with me from our last 20 years overseas!”
—Matt
Front Porch
Do you relax outside on a front porch or on a backyard deck? In the past in many Midwest communities, life took place on the front porch. Front porches were not set back a great many feet from the road or sidewalk. It would have made it too difficult to chat with neighbors passing by or to watch what people were doing. I spent many of my growing up time watching what my neighbors were up to. We had a neighbor who was a police officer and he had an outdoor kennel for his barking and growling K-9, which scared all the kids. Another neighbor kept us occupied watching their two older sons. They had a little Yamaha Chappy motorbike with short, chubby tires and they would create ruts in the yard from circling the house so many times as they raced around.
Overseas we live in an apartment with windows that face out on the opposite side of the front door, so I guess the windows face the backyard, but we have no yard. Our apartment building is alongside a two-lane street that is a dead end. On the other side of the street is a high school playground area. Watching what happens in our overseas “backyard” is quite entertaining. In our culture overseas, you should never say anything if someone is doing something they shouldn’t, as they would vandalize the outside of your apartment and police do not respond to complaints.
We have had a frozen fish seller who would drain his smelly ice and slush from his refrigerated truck at the end of the day outside our windows. We have had high school dropouts selling drugs through the chain link fence to former classmates during their gym hour. We had a group of over a dozen teen boys who’d organize informal boxing matches outside our windows on the street. The teens only had one set of gloves, so one boxer punched right-handed and the other boxer punched left-handed. It was a bit comical.
Some months back I was talking to a local who was dreamily talking about what he would do if he ever went to America. I anticipated a typical answer like “walk on the beaches in Miami,” “visit Hollywood,” or “stroll along the busy streets of New York City.” However, he responded by saying “sit on a big American front porch, drink coffee, and talk to neighbors as they pass by.”
Something similar ever happen to you. Contact me and let me hear your story!
mattsmishaps@gmail.com Matt’s Mishaps, PO BOX 114, Grabill, IN 46741
