The Block Party From Hell

So last Saturday my neighbors threw a little cookout for some old friends of their's and invited us over. They invited several of the other neighbors as well. Their house is also brand new, just like ours, and they moved in a month before us in November. The rest of the neighborhood are much older, MUCH smaller houses.

We went over because they had lots of food and alcohol, as well as horseshoes for Mike to play. They rented a giant moonbounce but Nathan is just too little yet. There were a ton of other babies there too. After awhile our other neighbor came by with her three little boys. She is super nice and we chat often. She is a leader of my MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group, a leader of our local Republican committee, and also a Premier Jewelry saleswoman, which I love. So we chatted awhile. Someone asked her how she handles three little boys and she chuckled and said she drinks alot.

Then the crazy neighbors (who weren't invited) came out into their back yard and blared their music louder than our party's music. You see, they are nuts because they have posted Private Property and No Trespassing signs all along the 20 ft. line of their back yard. These signs are staring us and our neighbors in the face. They have a sign stating that their tiny backyard is an official wildlife refuge. For what, rabbits?!! Squirrels?! Anyhow our neighbors complained about the Private Property signs and they replied "Oh, those aren't meant for you!" to which my neighbor replied "So why are they staring me in the face!"

Anyway another neighbor and his girlfriend joined the party and proceeded to tell us how sad he was when our two new houses were built but how he was glad it brought his property values up. Let's just say, he and his girlfriend had big mouths. They shared every bit of dirt about the neighborhood they could come up with. Then I went in to put Nathan to bed and Mike stayed out talking. As I was folding all the laundry that was strewn about our bed I heard the backdoor open and I heard Mike say, "Come on in, I'll give you the tour." I scrambled to throw all my clean underwear in the closet and shut the door and ran downstairs to give Mike a look like "What are you doing? My house is a mess!" Too late, he showed them everything as they "Oooh"ed and "Aaah"ed. I was embarressed because their house is possibly a quarter of the size of ours. A few minutes later we were all standing in the kitchen talking when a very drunk host of the party knocked on the backdoor and came in to join us. Somehow half the party managed to spread from my neighbor's house to mine. It went downhill very very fast as somehow my neighbors embarked upon a discussion of race relations. I kept my mouth clamped shut as I listened, horrified, as my neighbors tossed around the "N" word, debating which was worse, blacks or white trash. Aparently, all three of my neighbors are very racist. I couldn't believe they stood there and proudly admitted it. I mean, it's not as though I live in the sticks where rednecks are prevalent. I live in an extremely ethnically mixed, high tech suburb of Philadelphia. I love the fact that when I go to the park there are black kids, white kids, latino kids, asian kids, indian kids, you name it! I want Nathan to grow up with a great appreciation of all different cultures, but to be essentially colorblind. All night I tossed and turned, wondering if I should have said something to them. I wondered if I should have asked them not to use the "N" word in my house. I want to be friendly with my neighbors, but I also don't want my son hearing that kind of talk. What would you have done?