I’m not looking for advice as much as I’m interested to get everyone’s reactions and opinions. I also just want to share a funny story.

Context: I live on 34th Street, on a high floor, and there’s another similar building across the street. My nephew is 15 and lives on Long Island, but until recently was living in Wisconsin. I generally like seeing my neighbors through their windows living their lives. It’s this little reminder that we’re all living in this city together, all dealing with our own things. It’s also a reminder to go to bed when I see they’ve all turned their lights off for the night!

Story: My nephew’s friend from Wisconsin is in the city for the summer, so he came in on LIRR to spend an evening together with him, with me as chaperone. This was a big step forward for him, as it’s his first time in NYC without his mom. I did give them some one-on-one bro time to catch up in my neighborhood, then took them to K-Town for BBQ, and we wandered about Chinatown and the LES in the evening. It was also very Pride-y, and the boys both had a nice time.

My nephew stayed at my place for the night, and wanted to get up and out early in the morning. As we’re getting ready, I open the blinds and let the natural light in. He says he wants to check out my balcony, which I get since it has good views of 34th street’s activity, including the Empire State Building. As he heads out I look to see what my neighbors are up to in the building across the street.

Imagine my surprise: in one of the apartments that’s right at eye level with mine, one of the older couples is going at it hard. And I mean really hard. The wife is getting absolutely railed. All things considered, I’m impressed at their age that they can do that. Maybe I’m even a little envious. I end up just hoping in my heart of hearts that my nephew isn’t looking over, even though that’s the only window with a lot of motion.

He ends up being out on the balcony for only about 30 seconds. I do my utmost to not have him notice me watching them, as it would only serve to direct his gaze in that direction. Even now, I don’t know if he noticed, and I don’t want to talk about it, and I don’t want to tell his mom (my sister) about it.

If you have any stories to share, not necessarily the nsfw-type. I’d love to hear them. They are a nice couple, I guess they’re also a loving couple. Good for them. Their adult son lives with them in the next room. He wasn’t at home.

ETA: Good lord, this is going to forever be my first post on Lemmy. What have I done…