Nantucket Stream | My short-term neighbors

To the editor: Most of the neighbors on my street have disappeared. In winter it is downright creepy. Technically I think I still have neighbors, hundreds of them, but we just don’t know each other. They are my short-term neighbors…

My short-term neighbors usually arrive on the weekend, filled to the brim with COSCO bags full of groceries, hard and soft drinks of all shapes and sizes. It was all meant to last this long. I hear them over the fence complaining about the excessive cost of everything on Nantucket. I hear, “At least the beaches and beer pong are free.”

They make fun of you when you ask them to close the party so you don’t have to call the police. They mock you when you beg that you have to work in the morning, they mock you when you tell them that a member of the household is recovering from a major operation, they mock you when you ask them to put out the flames caused by a raging fire in your trees sparkle on a windy night.

Short-term neighbors don’t like to be disturbed, they paid a lot of money to be short-term neighbors, they bought themselves a good time and they don’t want any interference.

Early in the season last year, the police were challenged to gain access to the adjacent ‘rager’. The partygoers did not appear to be able to hear the officers banging on the door repeatedly. They were concerned enough to call for a backup car. A shameful use of our hard-working police force. The next morning, my short-term neighbors sent a clear message to me. My mailbox was full of crushed beer cans and go cups.

Please vote no on Article 59.

Please don’t settle – you don’t have to!

Your mailbox could be next.

Patsy Wright