FOR TSE ---> I was tyrannized back in my school days with the mantra of "What will the neighbors think?" -- to the point I came to absolutely despise the idea of people snooping. In the first place, I couldn't imagine anyone monitoring what I was doing, or caring ... let alone talking about it. I was always too damn busy with my own rat-killing to worry about what the neighbors were into. I certainly couldn't have told you what was what ... or who was coming and going at any house other than mine.

But the mantra remained. And that may be one reason why I live in the blooming middle of nowhere now. Apparently there are people whose day-to-day existence centers on checking out what others are doing. I still couldn't tell you one blessed thing about the people who live around me -- and, yes, there are a couple. But occasionally I get wind of something some of them know about me -- and my hand to God, I never said one word about the subject to anyone. Weird. (The spirit of Wilma lives. Even in the middle of nowhere.) Loved this story. It was ... enlightening.