RIDGEWOOD, NEW JERSEY: The Ridgewood Neighborhood Watch were called early this afternoon to calm a brief family altercation. “My husband is such an idiot. It’s the day after Christmas. Everybody knows you’re supposed to return all the s— you don’t want, and buy even more stuff on sale. This is America, for cripes sake! We buy stuff! That’s what makes America great!” stated Anna Maria Consuelo of Ridgewood. “Her values are totally wrong. This is Christmas–the holiday season! It’s not about shopping, it’s about watching sports!” asserted her husband, Edoardo Consuelo.
A neighbor, Miss Abigail Thrushbottom, was responsible for calling the neighborhood watch association. “One doesn’t want to call the police. That goes on the permanent record. I don’t want to take any action that devalues the value of our homes. On the other hand, I don’t want people I wouldn’t invite to dinner screaming at the tops of their voices either,” sniffed Miss Thrushbottom.
Neighbors gathered outside the Conseulo home while waiting for the neighborhood watch. [Wally–add website for watch here] Goodies left over from Christmas were shared, and it was generally acknowledged that Miss Thrushbottom’s Genovese Layer Cake was the “winner” of the occasion. “I generally don’t like Italian people,” asserted Ms. Thrushbottom, apparently never hearing of political correctness. (She is 97 years young. Isn’t that amazing??) “But they certainly know how to make a layer cake,” Ms. Thrushbottom added approvingly.
All was forgiven, when the Conseulos brought a heavily-spiked egg nog out to their neighbors, and everyone got tipsy pretty quickly. The Conseulos turned up their outdoor sound system, which is automatically timed with the flashing lights on their home. Soon everyone was dancing to the vintage hit “It’s Raining Men!” An impromptu block party sprang up because of the unseasonably warm temperatures. Miss Thrushbottom briefly considered calling the neighborhood watch again because of the noise. But after 5 large glasses of egg nog, she didn’t seem to mind the noise at all. All’s Well That Ends Well, as Charles Dickens said!