I came home from work. There was a note on our apartment door, “Workers will be installing partitions on the balconies on July 21st and 22nd”. It was the 20th, but when I entered our apartment, there were two men on our balcony, putting the final touches on the new wall that separated our side of the balcony from our neighbor’s side.

They told me they started early.

Previously, there was only a four foot wrought iron fence between us. We’d spent a lot of time over the last couple of years sitting outside talking with them. It was our common area. There was never a problem. They became friends soon after they moved in. We enjoyed the conversations we’ve shared.

We became family.

Sadly, other apartment dwellers in our complex do not get along. There have been tensions, complaints and disagreements …so much so, the management of our complex decided to put up walls.

We feel segregated from family and friends.

We don’t need more walls. We need more openness. We need to communicate. We need to talk, learn from others and teach them. Sharing is the gift that grows. Walls prevent communication, grow suspicions and divide people and cultures.

There are those who want to build walls between countries. I just learned on a minute scale, walls don’t work.

Tear down the walls!

Let’s share!

Let’s talk …communicate.

Tear down the walls!
Michael T. Smith

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