Lately, my neighbour and I leave at the same time in the morning. His door is hard to close, so when he leaves I can hear several minutes of thumping as he tries to punch it shut.
This morning I heard the familiar thumps as I put my shoes on. I decided to do the Scandinavian thing and hang out in my hallway until he left.
But alas, his thumping went on longer than usual. After I’d waited long enough to start feeling silly, I caved and went outside. Coincidentally, this was exactly when my neighbour’s thumping adventures concluded. Now he was forced to wait for my door to close, so he could pass – an endeavour that involved me first awkwardly retrieving the rainboot I’d accidentally kicked outside, and then giving a reluctant good morning-nod.
I’m sorry neighbour, I didn’t mean to force social interaction upon you so early in the morning.








