Won't You Be My Neighbor?

My landlord has rented out the basement of my house. This actually makes my mother happy, because she doesn’t like me living alone and assumes that the basement neighbor will defend me against intruders and bugs (that would be nice) and all kinds of unsavory characters. Unfortunately, there are a number of large vents in the house, so I can hear every blessed thing that goes on downstairs, which probably means that the neighbor can hear all of MY phone conversations and stuff, too. It really cramps my style. I feel obligated to watch movies at super low volumes (sometimes with the subtitles on) and keep the radio down.

The neighbor has been shoveling and salting the walkways, which I never do. I always just give guests the number of the hospital and strict instructions to keep to the edges of the steps, when they’re leaving the house on icy days. Because of this one good habit, I’ve decided to let the neighbor stay for a while and not set fire to his portion of the house. At least during the snowy season.