Usually, when we talk about coronavirus,
we focus on the lives lost, the economy and jobs.
But the truth is this pandemic is changing our world
in a million different ways,
and one of those ways
is how we interact with our neighbors.
And that's exactly what we're gonna explore
in our new segment,
Neighboring in the Time of Corona.
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Let's talk about neighbors.
They're the people who live in an apartment just like yours,
only everything's backwards.
And since the coronavirus locked us all down,
we've gotten so desperate for human interaction
that we've actually started turning
to the people who live next door.
And the results, well, they've actually been inspiring.
NEWSWOMAN: Two young girls in Italy
put their creative minds and talent to work.
They took to the rooftop
of their respective buildings to play tennis.
NEWSMAN: A guy in Brazil captured video
of some neighbors playing the '90s game Street Fighter II
projected onto the building.
NEWSWOMAN 2: A DJ in Argentina
is bringing the club to his balcony.
He sets up outside,
letting his neighbors enjoy from their own balconies.
The DJ spins for about an hour, giving them just enough time
to mentally escape and have a bit of fun.
♪ ♪
Oh, man.
Oh, yeah. I love this.
People are like, "Hey, let's go to the club.
"Hey, I'm at the club.
It's popping tonight."
So, lots of people right now are interacting
with their neighbors like they've never done before.
But thanks to coronavirus,
we're learning that neighbors don't just have to be friends.
They can also be our friends with benefits.
NEWSMAN: Jeremy Cohen was sitting at home alone
when he looked out of his window
and saw his next-door neighbor dancing.
He had never met her before, but it was love at first sight.
So he went above and beyond, pulled out his drone
and flew it over to her to ask her out on a date.
NEWSWOMAN: Michele D'Alpaos first set eyes
on Paola Agnelli from his balcony.
Michele managed to track Paola down on Instagram
and struck up a conversation.
The couple hasn't stopped talking since.
Now they spend their days dreaming
about what they'll do when they finally meet.
(chuckles): Oh, stop it, you two.
Get a room.
But don't. Social distancing.
You know, it's amazing how this pandemic
has warped our perspective,
because if you think about it, before coronavirus,
if a guy was staring at his neighbor through binoculars
and then tracking her with a drone,
it would not be romantic.
It would be the first half hour of a Dateline episode.
But I guess this is kind of sweet.
You know, the only big problem with dating your neighbor
is that neither of them can ghost each other.
"I know you're home.
I can see you, Daniella. Answer the phone."
Now, don't get me wrong.
Coronavirus isn't only bringing neighbors together.
For some neighbors,
this pandemic has made them go to war.
NEWSMAN: A snitching epidemic.
Neighbors tattle on people not following shutdown orders.
A man says his neighbors chopped down a tree
and used that tree to block his road
to try to force him into quarantine.
Social distance shaming has gotten ugly.
This is the Nextdoor website
created to make neighbors more neighborly.
But check out these recent posts.
"You're a moron." "Shut up, yuppie."
(creaking)
So, this is my life. I just listen
to people (bleep) (bleep) all night.
That's cool.
You know, I'll never understand
why people get so angry
when they hear their neighbors having sex.
If you want your neighbors to stop having sex,
don't get mad.
Get involved.
That's what I do.
Whenever my neighbors get too loud,
I just press up against the wall,
and I'm like, "And me! And me! And me!"
It works every time.
But no matter how much tension arises
between neighbors, there's one thing
you can always count on to bring people together
to weather a storm: happy hour.
(cheering)
NEWSMAN: Now, neighbors in this one cul-de-sac
call it trash talk.
They started to meet to have drinks on Tuesday
when they bring out their trash cans for pickup.
NEWSMAN 2: Some neighbors decided to follow the mantra
that sharing is caring.
Every night at 7:00,
neighbors in this apartment share a drink.
One of the residents leans out the window
to pour some wine from his bottle
down to neighbors below.
Yep. Leave it to alcohol
to bind people together.
I also love that they were having wine
while leaning on trash cans,
because it combines the classiest drink
with the least classy activity next to it.
Next, they'll be like,
"More caviar
served on a Limp Bizkit CD?"
So, look, before the coronavirus,
a lot of us just thought of our neighbors as anonymous weirdos
who cook smelly meals and needed to turn down their music.
But, hopefully, this pandemic will help us realize
that these are real people, man.
These are people with names.
That's not your neighbor.
That's Gary.
And after all of this coronavirus is over,
I just hope that we'll be able to go across the hall and say,
"Turn down the goddamn music!
Gary."