So I think the neighbor above me has tuberculosis.

I'm totally speculating here, of course. Because, duh, people in the city who are neighbors hardly talk to each other and when they do it's all: "Hey..." and then little if any eye contact. Well, that's my experience, anyway. I did meet one neighbor once. He was a pretty nice guy. It was at my old place when I first moved here. But then he asked if he could borrow money and I was all: "Dude, I'm a college art student... I don't think so..." and then he stopped talking to me. It's not like when I was a kid and had neighbors who were second family to me. I literally have a neighbor that I call "Other Mom" because that is what she was... her daughters are like sisters.

Anyway, tuberculosis... my neighbor. Yeah.

So, I say this to my friend Megan.

"I think he has T.B.?"
"How do you know?"
"Well... I don't. I only imagine. I mean, do people even get that anymore? Anyway, I can actually hear him hacking up all day. And it's not just a gentle hack. It's like "I think my lung and perhaps my gallbladder is coming up too" kind of hack."
"Huh..."
"So, I was going to go up and check on him... 'cause, you know, he lives alone!"
"Uh huh..." (She gives me a this is not a good idea look because, you know, T.B is contagious and all).
"But then I was like... what if I get T.B. and then I am hacking up stuff in my apartment... and then... I start thinking about how no one would know that I was hacking up stuff in my apartment... or possible choking or even slipping in the bathtub because now I live alone and not a lot of people call me as often as Dave used to when we were together and then I will rot or like that Sex And The City episode where Miranda thinks her cat is going to eat her because that's a rumor she heard about someone who died in their apartment without anyone knowing..."
"OK. Byron. This is what we will do. A) You leave T.B. alone B) I will call you every three days to make sure you are OK... this is what you do... you check in on each other."

And she has. Or my friend Jeff has or my friend Josh has or my friend Michele has or my brother. Someone has been checking in with me to make sure I am not diseased or being eaten by a cat I don't have or just to say hi and ask me how I am doing.

Because, unlike the T.B. guy and me, I have good neighbors... who happen not to live in the same building with me and are friends, but there like the neighbors I grew up with as a kid. Like family. The people I would do anything for. The people I consider lucky to have in my life.

And, also, like T.B guy and me. Do not tap dance on the hardwood floor at six in the morning causing me to wake up and be crabby.