I have lived for forty years in an apartment in Vienna’s Fourth District. My wife and I had a close relationship with all our neighbors in the building. We exchanged visits and greetings whenever we met in the elevator or the building entrance, and we talked about the children, politics, social conditions, and the news of the hour. Just as neighbors do.
After I became President of Austria, I noticed a change in my neighbors’ relationship with me.
The relationship became lukewarm. If one of them tossed a greeting, they did so without looking at you. And if I tossed the greeting, I could almost hear their reply as a whisper.
The situation continued like this for two months, and from all the residents—my neighbors without exception—I was gripped by bewilderment. I asked my wife: Is there something that calls for this neglect? Have we done something to anger our neighbors? She couldn’t find an answer to my question, so I decided to take the initiative. I knocked on my neighbor’s door, and he gave me no reply.
I knocked on the second one’s door—same answer. And I was perplexed: What’s wrong with people? Why have their attitudes toward me changed?
I returned to my apartment in bewilderment.
On the third day, someone knocked on my door: the building superintendent, inviting me to a meeting for all the residents, for an important matter. I saw the invitation as a chance to open the subject with everyone: Why are they treating me with such coldness?
And then my widowed neighbor said: I’ll tell you frankly.
Before you became president, we lived in peace—no cars, no guards, no sounds of security vehicles, no inspections, no street closures. Our lives were easy. And now we live with you in misery. That’s what makes us not want to deal with you, because you’ve caused us hassles. And today, we’ve decided to file a lawsuit against you for eviction from the building unless you restore our lives to how they were before.
The former president says in his television interview: I left feeling full of regret and apologized to them for my lack of attention to my neighbors, and I promised them that I would be worthy of their trust in being a neighbor to them.
Immediately, I called the head of my security detail and told him to clear the street of guards, and that only my car and one guard should accompany me, without lights or sirens, and to pull the guard stationed at the building entrance. I pledged to him that I would take personal responsibility for my safety if anything unfortunate happened.
The president continues and says: After two days of this, the smiles returned to my neighbors.
And with them, the affection returned.
Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is strictly that of the author, Agba Jalingo and does not represent Theluminenews, its agent or the organisation the author works for/with.