A Good Neighbor

When a cowboy says a man is a good neighbor, he means that the man’s concern for the bovine does not extend only to his own boundaries. A good neighbor intends to be of service in helping any bovine perform his certain duties.

A neighbor might not have exactly the same idea as another company of what service to the other company’s bovine should be. If a good neighbor finds another company’s steer out of bounds, he might decide that steer lacks growth and might rope him and bust him down to stretch his hide. He enjoys this type of service. He might break the steer’s leg in the process. If such an accident happens, a good neighbor may butcher the steer and eat the meat, divining that the other company had sent the steer over to repay a favor.

A good neighbor might gather steers belonging to another company at shipping time, sell them with his own steers, and give the money to the company. Or he might keep the money and think of a better way to be a good neighbor if he is sure, deep in his cowman’s heart, that the neighboring company doesn’t need money.