The BRO Code for Neighbors and Guests

Wave.

It costs nothing, and it turns a street into a neighborhood.

Borrow a car, bring it back with a full tank and washed.

Even if it came to you on fumes and wearing half a dirt road. That is how you get to borrow it again.

Return a borrowed tool cleaner and sharper than you got it.

A man who returns a sharpened axe is a man who will be lent anything.

Introduce yourself when someone new moves in.

Bring cookies. Or a lasagna. Or at least your name.

Keep your yard tidy.

It is the one part of your property your neighbors have to look at every day.

Return what you borrow, cleaner than you got it.

Bonus points for returning the ladder before they have to ask.

Bring something when you're invited.

Flowers, dessert, a bag of ice. Never show up empty-handed.

Take your shoes off if the host does.

When in doubt, look at the pile by the door.

Offer to help clean up.

The host will say no. Offer again. Then pick up a dish towel.

Send a thank-you after dinner.

A text is fine. A card makes you the guest they invite back.

Look out for the older folks on your street.

Shovel their walk once and you have a friend for life.

Keep the music reasonable after nine.

Nobody has ever said "I loved hearing your subwoofer at midnight."

Leave before the host starts yawning.

Great guests know when the evening is over. Legendary guests leave ten minutes before.

Watch their house when they're away.

Grab the packages, bring in the trash cans. That is what neighbors do.

Pick up after your dog.

Every time. Even when you think nobody is looking. Somebody is.

Don't park in front of their house for three days.

The curb is not legally theirs. Emotionally, it is.

Don't be the one who never returns the casserole dish.

It has been two years. They want the dish back.

Don't drop in unannounced unless you're bringing food.

Even then, text first.

Don't let your dog bark all day.

The dog is not lonely. The neighbors are, for silence.

Don't gossip about the neighbors to the other neighbors.

Streets are small and fences have ears.

Don't overstay your welcome.

Guests and fish both start to smell after three days. Ben Franklin said it. We are just repeating it.

Don't raid the host's fridge.

Even if they said "make yourself at home." They did not mean the leftovers.

Don't leave your trash cans out all week.

It is not a sculpture. It is Thursday.

Don't start the leaf blower at 7 a.m. on a Saturday.

Nobody has ever been glad they heard it.

Don't go over a neighbor's head before you knock on their door.

Most problems melt in front of a friendly face.

Don't spend the dinner party on your phone.

You were invited for your company, not your screen time.

Don't let your kids cut through the neighbors' yards.

Teach them the invisible fence lines early.

Don't bring an uninvited guest.

"Mind if I bring a friend?" is a question for before, not at the door.