Fresh Healthy Body

If it is one thing that most people don’t want to see, it is other people working on their vehicles in public places-especially if that public place is in your neighborhood, apartment complex, housing development or right next door to your house.

When I was growing up, it was during a time when everyone knew who their neighbors were. It was a time when you would actually go trick-or-treating with your friends from the neighborhood while the parents trailed behind you and chatted. Well, one summer, a new neighbor moved in caddy corner to my parents’ house. The house on the corner was a cute little brown house with nice landscaping. One night while everyone was trying to sleep, the most bizarre noise could be heard throughout the night. The next night we heard it again. As it turns out, our new neighbor was a mechanic and was working on his car(s) in his garage. It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if it wasn’t for the fact that the problem only escalated and got worse.

Normally, people have one or two cars per couple. This neighbor of ours started out with one car, and in a matter of weeks, his entire front yard was peppered with old, broken down cars. There were even vehicles parked on his beautiful front lawn, which was a huge no-no in our neighborhood. One day, during the summer, he had his garage open and we could actually see him working on a car in his garage. We also noticed immediately that he had actually built a mechanic’s lift in his garage. A lift! The neighbors were outraged. How could someone move into a nice neighborhood and purposely try to bring down the value of the other homes by acting this way? The neighbors were baffled at the fact that this gentleman couldn’t or didn’t see anything wrong with opening a mechanic’s shop out of his home in an otherwise quiet neighborhood.

It didn’t take long before several neighbors went to the town and complained. They informed the town commissioner as to what was going on, how this new neighbor had only lived in the neighborhood for a few months and was driving everyone crazy with the noise of working on cars at all hours of the day. They also complained that with the number of broken down vehicles parked in the front of his property that his residence had now become an eye sore in the neighborhood, potentially bringing down the value of the other homes around them. Were they justified in their complaints? Should they have kept to themselves?

Working on your vehicle is something that you should really avoid at all costs. Unless it is something minor such as washing your car or changing a flat tire, even seemingly little things such as performing oil changes can be messy and should be done at a certified mechanic’s garage. If oil spills or any other fluid spills out of your car, it can stain the roadways and be unsightly to passing motorists.