Is George One of the Luckiest Guys in the World?

family, lessons learned, technology 3 Minutes

The following message popped up on my Nextdoor feed a couple of days ago (name, location, age changed):

Looking for new friends. Hello! My name is George and I just moved into a house off  Drury Ln. I live alone no friends nobody just me, I am in process for a position with one of the local police academies so anybody love to run I would love to be in contact with. Looking forward to checking out all the local spots so any recommendations would be appreciated. Also, are there any events the whole town gets together and celebrates? Thanks! Looking forward to make new friends. Btw I’m turning 26 next month.

My first thoughts were – three cheers for George, and three cheers for Nextdoor.

How many people would be willing to make such a post? George is new to town, knows no one. But rather than just sit back and wait to see what happens, he is being proactive about meeting people and wanting to become part of the community. I don’t think I would have had the confidence to do something like this, but I certainly admire people who do.

George received nearly 50 replies; here’s a sampling (warning, lots of exclamation points):

  • Check out Bryn Mawr Running Club on Lancaster Ave (in Bryn Mawr). They have running groups—although I don’t know if they’ve stopped these due to COVID-19. There are also outdoor fitness classes a couple times a week at Linwood Park in Ardmore. Hope this helps! Welcome to the area!
  • Welcome, George! Hope you have a great birthday next month!
  • Head into the middle of Wayne, Wednesday-Sunday for live music and tailgating and food under the large tent in the muni lot!
  • Welcome!! Happy early birthday, and good luck with the police academy!!
  • Welcome to a very beautiful and welcoming community. Currently, Wayne does outdoor dining with live music. During Christmas time we do a big Christmas tree lighting that pulls people from all over. If you live close to Garrett hill during the 4th we have the cutest parade and then gather at the park for games and fun. There is so much you can find out about this community! Happy early birthday!
  • My brother and I live in Havertown.. we don’t really run anywhere except to the fridge anymore but we are avid sports watchers and try to find local stuff to do feel free to message me if you’re ever looking for something to do
  • Wishing you well George. You are living in a warm and friendly neighborhood. Introduce yourself to some neighbors.welcome!
  • Happy to have you here and congratulations on going for the police academy; police run in my family and I highly respect them. Hopefully by the time your birthday comes around some more places will be open because there is so much to do. I’m pretty much on my own as well so feel free to PM if you ever want to chat!
  • George! You have Bill and Mary next door. If you ever need anything or just to chat, please stop over. Would love to have you.
  • New here… could use friends also.
  • All the best to you. Thank you for dedicating your career to public service. I love it here and being on Nextdoor is a great start. I’ve met so many wonderful people on this resource.

George’s post and the responses remind me of the line:

People who need people are the luckiest people in the world

from the play Funny Girl, sung by Barbra Streisand.

George is one lucky guy. And a big shout out to Nextdoor for facilitating such connections.

P.S. This is my fourth post about how wonderful Nextdoor is.

*image from Nextdoor

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

Published

29 thoughts on “Is George One of the Luckiest Guys in the World?”

  2. Right on for George! I don’t have an overabundance of courage, but I used to be shy. People who know me know think I’m joking because now I’m pretty outgoing. I did make a conscious effort to change. Most people admire confidence—I know that I do. It can’t be over the top, brash, or rude. For me, it is the Georges of the world who have enough confidence in themselves to put themselves out there. It’s a much healthier way to go through life instead of living in fear of trying anything new. When we expand our horizons, we grow as people and feel better about ourselves.

    I’ve only been a Nextdoor member for a few months, but it is a great organization.

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    1. I am kind of quiet, but I generally don’t mind trying new things. And I’ve always been drawn to athletes who are a bit cocky – Ali, Jimmy Connors, Tiger. As long as they can back it up. We’ve found Nextdoor to be quite helpful…

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  5. that is so wonderful. i’ve noticed more people reaching out on my local nextdoor. generally not this much content, but something like, ‘i’m tim, and i’ve moved here from baltimore.’ many people respond with a polite hello or invite. brilliant. now you’ve trigged a post, so thank you.

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  8. Where I live, Nextdoor seems to be full of people trying to sell us something, or moaning about the state of pavements, antisocial distancing, council policies and the like. If George needed help from it, he’s moved to a better place than here!

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      1. It used to be called Streetlife here, but I think it was bought out. I forgot to mention the posts pleading for help with lost cats. Serves them right in my view: should have got a pet that gave a **** about them 😂

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  9. This is great! Good for George for putting himself out there! As to Exclamation marks, they seem to have multiplied in the past few years. I am certainly using them more often than I used to as they seem to serve a greater purpose. Maybe somewhere in the space between punctuations and emojis?

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