Mind your Bee's wax

Greetings,

You guessed it...  more noisy neighbors.

With all the construction work going on... this particular neighbor could not help herself.

I'll give you the highlights of the conversation:

"You need to be careful and respect an old house."

and

"If you were from the South.. you would know Southern porch etiquette."

and

"The girls (previous owners) did a lot of work to the house.  A lot of work."


and my favorite


"Your house used to be the best looking house on the block."




She of course told my mom all of this.... as soon as I saw her on the porch I ducked and ran in the opposite direction.  I have met her before.


1.  What does she know... she has never been inside my house.  How does she know what we are respecting or not?

2.  I AM from the South.  You cannot get more Southern than North Florida.  Seriously?

3.  The "girls"  had no clue what they were doing.  My dad spent most of his time repairing their messes.  He spent hours in the attic tracing "hot" wires that the "girls" forgot to cap or disconnect.  Not just crappy workmanship, but safety hazards!  Respecting an old house would be ensuring it does not burn to the GROUND!

4.  Used to be?  Get off my porch... how's that for Southern porch etiquette?


Is it hard for noisy neighbors to mind their own business?  Or simply be polite when talking about my business?  That's what a Southerner would do... say something somewhat mean, but politely and with a smile on your face!

Mind you own beeswax crazy neighbor! (not Chaplain wifelike verbage)


To call myself down from my rant.... I wanted to find the origin of beeswax.

Personal hygiene left much room for improvement in the 1700s. As a result, many women and men had developed acne scars by adulthood. The women would spread bee's wax over their facial skin to smooth out their complexions. When they were speaking to each other, if a woman began to stare at another woman's face she was told, "mind your own bee's wax."

Should the woman smile, the wax would crack, hence the term, "crack a smile."

In addition, when they sat too close to the fire, the wax would melt...therefore, the expression "losing face."



So in the most polite Southern voice... I want to tell that old bat to stop staring at my face.

But that might cause me to lose face.

But it would cause me to crack a smile.



Blessings,