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I'm a private tenant on a council block in South East London. I'm one of a few tenants like this; my neighbours are low wage or no income; many speak English as a 2nd language and have multiple daily stresses that I decipher from the screams through my floors & open windows. (1/)
I write this as a family downstairs are screaming at each other in Arabic (which I understand) and their neighbours who have a (now screaming) 3y/o kid are screaming at them to shut up. I see a kid in uniform returning from school oblivious or ignoring it. Life on a block... (2/)
Screams getting scarier. I knocked the door. Teenage daughter answered w/ her father (family still screaming in the b/ground) "IT'S JUST FAMILY PROBLEMS" + closed the door. Many families would never call the police. It's sth that stays behind closed doors (and thin walls). (3/)
Hard to know what to do. Flare-ups happen often. Life on a block. We hold breath until it sounds dangerous or goes on too long. We count minutes til "letting off steam" sounds sinister. We know it's hard times for everyone. We don't know what they're going through. We wait. (/4)
Many directions I could take this thread! My work? "Charity starts at home," mum always said. I recall the sounds and faces of my own neighbours in sessions about social change, vulnerable people or "COVID 19 and its effects". Home & work life have blurred; keeps me humble. (/5)
