Hope its a blue tooth wireless

A neighbour has begun demonstrating unusual and strange behaviour. Every so often during the day (I'm a stay at home senior) this young man (25-30 years old) appears on his balcony to have a smoke. That isn't new behaviour.

He has taken to smoking in the alley behind our buildings (we live in side-by-side buildings.)

I am not a nosy busy body old lady - I am fascinated by human behaviour. It comes of an incurable inquiring mind about people and it is a lifetime hobby that morphed into a professional career in personal life coaching, teaching meditation and building a website that offers a self-mastery course.

I find this young man interesting on several accounts. In the 12 months that I have lived in my apartment, I have noticed that the number of cigarettes he smokes in a day has increased considerably. I know that because when I was smoking, before I quit on March 1st, it was my habit to take only three puffs on a cigarette and return to my writing - very short frequent breaks away from my computer. It was rare that we were both out there at the same time.

Nowadays, he appears at least a couple of times in an hour. While I have gained weight since quitting, so has he gained weight while increasing his smoking. That is an unusual consequence of smoking at least for most folks.

This guy has gained so much weight that his walk has become a waddle. When he waddles out into the alley to enjoy his smoke, he stands in the same place almost every time. Before he takes out a cigarette he seems to deliberate for a minute or so, staring down at the pavement beneath his feet.

Then very slowly and deliberately he opens his pack of cigarettes and withdraws one and ever so slowly raises it to his lips. He acts if every movement is a carefully calculated function that requires his 100% attention. Fascinating!

He smokes all of his cigarette without pausing; one puff, inhale, exhale, a puff, inhale exhale - without taking a break to look around - his eyes moving from the ground to the cigarette occasionally.

Now here is why I am writing about this person.

During the last few days his to his already odd behaviour he has added a strange quirk. Frequently my attention is being drawn to the outdoors by a very loud exuberant laughter. At first I wasn't sure whether it was a male or female voice.

Then I discovered the laughter was coming from the smoking man. At first I thought I was mistaken - this quiet deliberate young man laughing out loud - very loudly - with energy that was not characteristic of him?

I did detect a touch of insincerity - but eventually most of the time he was genuinely laughing - often like a child.

He seemed to be alone. I could see no one else around - but I can't see entirely inside his apartment.

Note: I usually sit on my couch when I read and from there I gain a panoramic view of my neighbourhood from my second floor apartment. I am aware that I am also in plain view for people who care to see what I am doing unless I close my vertical blinds.

A woman who shows up in his apartment occasionally had been seen there for a few days recently. I could see her cutting the young man's hair and actively engaging in what may have been tiding up his place.

She was not present during these periods of laughter. I love laughter - I love laughing out loud and do it often while watching comedy or talking on the phone to friends, or even thinking about a past event.

So when I heard and saw this man hilariously laughing, I tried to ascertain the cause of his laughter (without asking him of course - we are not within talking distance.)

I guess I could have yelled to him, but that would have been intrusive - my spying on him is bad enough, but I do live in a glass house - sort of. I have windows on two full walls on my corner apartment so people can see almost everything I do unless my vertical blinds are closed.

Back to the laughter - eventually after these outbursts of laughter - one last night after midnight - I want to assume that he is wearing a wireless blue tooth device that I cannot see from my vantage point.

I sure hope that is the case, because otherwise this young man is loosing his mind. What a fine way to loose it though.

I wish my immediate next door neighbour would follow suit. His unusual behaviour is a long story, but for now suffice to say that his emotional and verbal outbursts are much less pleasurable than laughter.

Norman (I have met him once when I asked him to keep the volume down on his very expensive sound system) has a friend or family member that annoys him - occasionally. The poor gets so annoyed with this person that he ends up screaming at the top of his lungs - SHUT UP! STOP IT! SHUT UP!

I have on occasion heard a very quiet female voice through our very thin adjoining wall - so I assume he has a visitor - whom I have never encountered in the hall. Last night his outburst around midnight was somewhat quieter.

But oh my!

Yes, it was a full moon the night before last - and as we all know a full moon brings out the strangest behaviour in human beings.

Blessings to all of my neighbours - especially the one on the main floor one apartment over from my immediate neighbour beneath me. I heard a few very strange noises - like a man screaming - the night before last.

About an hour later I heard the loud voice of a policeman demanding a door to be opened - then a loud pounding on the patio door. The policeman sounded furious as he told the tenant to open the door to the police or get his door kicked in. When I 'peeked' out of my window and saw a policeman walking around the property.

Living in this apartment building provides great material for a book, or a TV sit com.