Spontaneity is a Virtue.

Have you ever visited a friend's house, only to be completely terrorized by their parent or parents? Not only does this totally freak me out, but it makes me wonder if they even remember what it was like to be a child/teen in the first place.
I guess I'm pretty weird for liking to have casual relationships with friends. I would love to call up a friend in the neighborhood when I'm upset, tell them I need their help, go to their house in my old pair of paint-covered sweats, plop down on their sofa, and and vent while eating anything and everything chocolate we could find in their pantry. Most importantly, her parents would still love me, and all would be well! Really now, chocolate therapy is not the kind of thing that should be planned two weeks in advance.
My house is generally casual... a very rare thing in this neighborhood. Our dog is actually inside the house and we strongly stand by the rule, "A friend in need is a friend indeed."
Maybe it's a Texas thing. Maybe it's a suburbs thing. Maybe it's a Texas suburbs thing. Maybe in places where mailboxes come in bulk, and our all the same in nearly every way, the people follow suit. Maybe in a subdivision with very few bumper-stickers, the glued messages on people's cars our an exact representation of the person who drives them. There are a lot of bumper-stickers on our car. I'm proud of the messages they send. I admire the people brave enough to go against the system. Perhaps by spontaneously leaving their Christmas decorations up a week longer than the rules allow. Playing their music loud, perhaps? Or maybe even having a messy lawn. Dare your neighbors to call the cops.
Unfortunately, I have yet to commit any of these marvelous crimes. So far though, I have my own way of going against the system of the 'burbs. I introduce my neighborhood friends to the ways of casual friendship. The was it was meant to be.