SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

This story is about a neighbour who herself succumbed to the disease during the viroses and had to stay at home for a few days. It was a milder form of the virus, but for several days she was plagued by a nagging dry and irritating cough. She coughed day and night. At night, she hardly slept because of the constant chest pains in the upper part of her lungs. 

In our block, the walls between the flats are quite thin and you can hear a lot of things. Of course, even at night, when everything is usually quiet, you could hear the neighbour's coughing. Jože, who has a room on the other side of the wall, heard it too. 

Jože is a beekeeper and makes various honey products. When he heard his neighbour's cough, he decided to do one nice thing and surprise her the next morning. 

In the morning, as a neighbour is unknowingly tidying up her flat, she hears the doorbell ring. Surprised, of course, because she wasn't expecting a visit. A little reluctantly, because she was completely disorganised due to her illness, she opens her front door. 

The first thing she saw through the half-open door was an outstretched hand holding a paper bag of honey products. It was like a scene from a comedy. Uno, what? Did I order something? She belatedly realised what was happening. Later, she recognised it was her neighbour Jože. All he said was: "I wish you well and say hello as soon as possible."

Later, when she closed the door, she was surprised to find that Jože had given her three different honey products that he had created. One was wild honey, the second was propolis and the third was a syrup made from pine cones soaked in honey. 

It made her smile. Especially when you see that there can still be good neighbourly relations where we help each other.

Sometimes we have the feeling that nowadays everything is seen only through the lens of money, but Jože's story showed that there are still people who care about their fellow human beings and can surprise with nice things, simply because they think it is the right thing to do and because it is nice. And at the same time, I hope that when they give something, they themselves get a special satisfaction.

Here's to more good neighbourly relations and heartfelt actions between everyone, neighbours and other people alike!

Mojca Jeram, 15. 2. 2025