{"id":17090,"date":"2026-03-10T13:47:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T13:47:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/someone-cares-stop-and-chat\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:02:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:02:57","slug":"someone-cares-stop-and-chat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/inspiring-stories\/people-helping-people\/someone-cares-stop-and-chat\/","title":{"rendered":"Someone Cares: Stop and Chat"},"content":{"rendered":"

I live on the very busy main street of a small town. More and more I noticed my neighbors hurrying by, so focused on their cell phones that they didn\u2019t even look up as they went down the sidewalk. Sometimes I\u2019d have to say hello two or three times before anyone responded.<\/p>\n

I had an idea. I made a sign that said Stop and Chat a While <\/em>and put it up in my front lawn. Would anyone take me up on it? All kinds of people did! A grandmother pushing her grandson in a stroller; two young brothers, who shook hands with me; guys covered with tattoos, riding their beat-up skateboards; a woman on her way to the post office (she would come back just about every day to talk about the world\u2019s problems).<\/p>\n

My favorite visitor of all was my five-year-old neighbor, Laynie, who played with a plastic tea set I would bring out just for her. Word got out about my sign and people started asking me about it when they saw me at the grocery store, the post office, even church. I invite them\u2014 and everyone\u2014to stop by. I love hearing my neighbors\u2019 stories. Sometimes I even make cookies to share while we visit.<\/p>\n

Want to get to know your neighbors better? Put up a sign!<\/p>\n

Learn more about Someone Cares greeting cards<\/a><\/strong>!<\/em><\/p>\n

Did you enjoy this story? Subscribe to <\/em>Guideposts<\/strong><\/a> magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I live on the very busy main street of a small town. More and more I noticed my neighbors hurrying by, so focused on their cell phones that they didn\u2019t even look up as they went down the sidewalk. Sometimes I\u2019d have to say hello two or three times before anyone responded. I had an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199],"tags":[46,55,21],"ppma_author":[1866],"class_list":["post-17090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people-helping-people","tag-friends","tag-inspiration","tag-kindness"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSomeone Cares: Stop and Chat - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Someone Cares: Stop and Chat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I live on the very busy main street of a small town. 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