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I need your advice about something I’ve been struggling with. For the past ten years, a young man named Keith lived in the second‑floor unit next door. We became quite close — whenever I shared maitake or chicken mushrooms with him, he would cook Italian dishes and bring them over to us.

But Keith moved back to his hometown in Virginia, and a young white woman has recently moved in. Until now, I hadn’t really seen her clearly, but today I finally did, and the situation felt a bit awkward. She’s very young and slim, and she wears extremely short skirts. Because her balcony is higher than my yard, I feel uncomfortable looking up when I step outside — it feels like I might accidentally see something I shouldn’t.

 

During the daytime she’s at work, so it’s fine, but early evenings have become a bit tricky for me. Even going outside without a shirt feels inappropriate now. Honestly, I sometimes feel like shouting, ‘Please put on some pants!’

I’m not sure how an older man like me is expected to behave in situations like this in the U.S. Could you give me some guidance?