Apartment Peacemaking

Dear friends, Apartment Peacemaking I live in an apartment and above me live a couple with a girl about six. Often over the last weeks the girl has ridden her scooter back and forth for over an hour at time. Can you imagine the racket? Knowing how little ones can be, I mostly just lived with it. Except when I was trying to get to sleep, so one evening I knocked on their door patiently several times and talked to the mother. Then one time after doing this several times, she said, “You don’t have to come up each time, here’s my phone number. Just call me if we get too loud.” Each time the noise would stop. Then recently the other day the couple were hollering and obviously fighting. So I went up and knocked intermittingly several minutes. I wondered whether I would be able to understand them when they are so angry. They have bit of an accent. I was anxious and fearful not knowing what might happen. Finally the fellow opened the door. I said “are you all ok?” I added “I suggest you take some time to separate and make space between you. That often can be helpful way to resolve a hard conflict.” He responded “Oh, I was just about to leave the apartment. And thank you for caring and coming up.” (The response was a pleasant surprise.) As an afterthought in light that so many people have guns these days. It could have turned out in a very different way. A few days later they were hollering again, I went up and they told me they were just arguing politics. We all just smiled. Shalom, Jim