Every Friday, Anne Tabat has met the school bus in her subdivision with a basket of cookies. It began as a thank you to the bus driver.  And, Tabat said, she couldn’t give the driver a cookie without giving one to every child on the bus.

Tabat said the cookies were also a way to get to know her neighbors.

But.  There’s always a but.

For the first time in many years, Tabat won’t be at the bus stop Friday.  She received a phone call from the school this week telling her someone had complained and that she should cease and desist the dispensing of cookies.  She said she never really had a straight answer about the specifics of the complaint.

Her efforts at neighborliness had worked to some extent, though: the school knew who she was and her telephone number.  And Ms Tabat hasn’t lost her community spirit.

She’s busy making 200 cookies for her neighborhood party Saturday [yesterday].

“People are good.  I’ve yet to find someone I can’t find commonality with.  We’re all crawling around on the planet dealing with circumstances in our life, and most of us just want to raise a nice family and be successful in however you define success and for most people it’s just surviving.”

Merry Christmas to Ms Tabat, and a Happy New Year.  And a Merry Christmas to the anonymous complainer, too.