Bob and Van

Bob and Van

September 4, 2026 ∞https://marco.org/2026/09/04/bob-and-van

For the first half of my puerility successful suburban Ohio, we lived adjacent to Bob.

Bob and his woman were a kind, reserved older mates who dressed up their location mostly pinch crucifixes and talked astir Jesus a lot. Bob helped my mom pinch a batch of communal family tasks aft my dada died. When she woke up to a mini occurrence connected our deck, she didn’t telephone the occurrence section — she called Bob.1

I ne'er learned immoderate of Bob’s governmental views, though I tin make immoderate guesses successful retrospect. They ne'er mattered. He was conscionable our neighbor.

We later moved, and deed the neighbour jackpot pinch Van.

Van was profoundly kind, generous, and friends — the benignant of neighbour everyone wishes for. In my lazy teenage years, he’d often mow our section aliases shovel our snowfall for america earlier I moreover woke up. As his mobility later declined, I was honored to return the favor.

Van and his delightful woman passed distant years ago, earlier I learned really either of them felt connected immoderate governmental issue.

If they were my neighbors today, really apt would that be?

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If I study coming that my neighbors person governmental views that my “side” considers unacceptable and unforgivable, should I beryllium capable to person meal astatine their house, shovel their snow, aliases moreover shake hands them outside?

Should I beryllium condemned for supporting aliases associating pinch them successful non-political contexts?

Should I beryllium condemned for not publically condemning them myself?

While privilege and powerfulness dynamics play a analyzable and unavoidable domiciled successful this, I don’t want to subordinate pinch immoderate organization that would insist connected either of those.2

And I can’t thief but consciousness that possibly we were amended disconnected earlier we knew everyone’s basking takes connected everything.

The municipality java shop was conscionable a java shop. We weren’t publically shamed for going location because 1 of the owners was an ass. It was conscionable a spot to bent retired pinch our friends.

Our casual activity friends were conscionable casual activity friends. We didn’t expect them to return positions connected the world’s astir analyzable conflicts. We could conscionable talk astir upwind and TV shows, and possibly sometimes get a brew aft work.

And our neighbors were conscionable our neighbors.