How would you react to neighbors?

If neighbors had a party and didn't invite you, but sent food over to you, how would you feel?


  • Total voters
    21
Cookie/oakapple - there was a service called "Welcome Wagon" across the US ....an actual company that had offices (or chapters) in every city. They would knock on doors and/or place bags of goodies/coupons/small gifts at the front door shortly after people moved into an area. Not sure if they are still operating (I would think there would be a security/theft issue). They were very popular in the 60s and I remember getting a goodie bag from them several times in the 70s when I moved. But now people are more transient and I'd think it would get to be too much.

(Didn't mean to veer off the topic of the grad party/food.....)
 
Well many years ago i was given some good advice ref nieghbours,
advice,
Keep it friendly by saying hello and keep a little distance, dont live in their house and dont have them living in yours,
If you dont get involved with chit chat then people can't say anything about you.

The advice i would give to anyone who asked me for advice ref nieghbours is this.
Try not to have any within ear shot, buy a home in its own land & that shares nothing ie driveways or right of ways OR parking rights.

The last three homes we have bought we kept to these rules and we've not had any problems with any noise,parking, dogs barking, or loss of sleep when next door decides to have a party or put their head bourd on the deviding wall.
And if you intend having dogs etc just think about neighbours and "YOUR" dog barking!!!!!! you may feel it's not a problem hearing it barking, but if your neighbours work shift hours they may be trying to sleep, Or why should they have to put up with your interest in life?
A place on its own is perfect for you and your noise.

(It's so quiet here i swear i could hear a mouse fart, And my neighbour "way across the track" tells me he could smell the mouse farting) you dont get more peace perfect peace then three lives just doing what they want to do "the mouse farting, me hearing it and the neighbour smelling it.:confused:
 
Cookie/oakapple - there was a service called "Welcome Wagon" across the US ....an actual company that had offices (or chapters) in every city. They would knock on doors and/or place bags of goodies/coupons/small gifts at the front door shortly after people moved into an area. Not sure if they are still operating (I would think there would be a security/theft issue). They were very popular in the 60s and I remember getting a goodie bag from them several times in the 70s when I moved. But now people are more transient and I'd think it would get to be too much.

(Didn't mean to veer off the topic of the grad party/food.....)
What did this business get out of it?Who paid for the goodies? Wish it operated here!
 
Well many years ago i was given some good advice ref nieghbours,
advice,
Keep it friendly by saying hello and keep a little distance, dont live in their house and dont have them living in yours,
If you dont get involved with chit chat then people can't say anything about you.

The advice i would give to anyone who asked me for advice ref nieghbours is this.
Try not to have any within ear shot, buy a home in its own land & that shares nothing ie driveways or right of ways OR parking rights.

The last three homes we have bought we kept to these rules and we've not had any problems with any noise,parking, dogs barking, or loss of sleep when next door decides to have a party or put their head bourd on the deviding wall.
And if you intend having dogs etc just think about neighbours and "YOUR" dog barking!!!!!! you may feel it's not a problem hearing it barking, but if your neighbours work shift hours they may be trying to sleep, Or why should they have to put up with your interest in life?
A place on its own is perfect for you and your noise.

(It's so quiet here i swear i could hear a mouse fart, And my neighbour "way across the track" tells me he could smell the mouse farting) you dont get more peace perfect peace then three lives just doing what they want to do "the mouse farting, me hearing it and the neighbour smelling it.:confused:
Not keen on all the mouse farting, but otherwise some good advice. I do like to have some friendly interaction with neighbours though, and have a coffee and chat now and then.
 
What did this business get out of it?Who paid for the goodies? Wish it operated here!

Apparently WW is still operating - btw they are in Canada and other countries: I googled and this is what I found:

"When the company was founded, Welcome Wagon "hostesses" would visit new homeowners with a gift basket containing samples, coupons, and advertising from contributing businesses.[SUP][2][/SUP] These home visits continued for over 50 years until 1998, when then-owner Cendant laid off the "hostesses", saying that changing demographics meant few homeowners would be at home when representatives called.[SUP][3][/SUP]

Welcome Wagon Canada, a separate company, continues to offer home visits. It also operates events for people planning a wedding or expecting a baby. Welcome Wagon in Canada was founded in 1930 and was run for many years by Pauline Hill, who first became a Hostess in 1953 and advanced to be head of the company as CEO (1962–1990).[SUP][1][/SUP] Welcome Wagon Ltd. became a wholly Canadian-owned entity in 1979 when a group of Canadian managers purchased it outright from the US owners. Currently, Welcome Wagon Ltd. (Canada) is being led by its CEO, Pat Neuman and its head office is situated in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Hostesses are now known as representatives"

(more)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_Wagon
 
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Thanks for the info applecruncher, interesting.The only thing I can think of here, if it still operates, is that when you have a baby in hospital, you get a welcome pack of baby goodies, samples etc from firms, a similar idea.
 
I don't have to worry about this ever happening. I live in an executive development, meaning that everyone wears a coat and tie to work, or a designer dress. My neighbors are so stuck up, I think their arm would beak, if they waved to anyone.
 
It's avery hard subject to talk about "ie should you be very friendly with your neighbours or just keep your distance?

I myself have found inlife that if you are the type of person always willing to help "never say no" you can become an easy touch, I remember lending a trailer to a neighbour to take some waste he had to a local landfill,
When the trailer came back i was asked if i had insurance on the trailer, and if so could the nieghbour claim for the light he'd damaged on his car while he was reversing????

No mention to the damage done to the trailer,
If you have a set of ladders, a trailer, a drill, a rotovator ? wheel barrow etc etc etc etc , you can become a target, but the bit that once hurt my feelings was when i was asked (again)
by a nieghbour if he could use my ladder as is was cherry picking time again (he'd used my ladder several times)
As he was walking away with it he said " i could buy my own but whats the point of the two of us having ladders !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i WAS RETURNING HOME THAT NIGHT 11PM, and my ladder was proped up against this cherry tree in the lane we're we use to live " a perfect gift for a ladder thief"
I took the ladder down and put it back in our garage,
Three days went by and not a ward mentioned ref the ladder, I asked the nieghbour "Have you finished with my ladder yet?

He didnt know what to say or we're to look, and my wife added that ladder only cost £300 "have you seen the prices today?"

He got the message and never asked again.
 
I think my relationship with the neighbors is perfect. We are not buddy-buddy... we do not visit each other's houses.. We try to be considerate of one another with noise iissues.. We wave hello over the fence... that's about it. HOWEVER, when a problem arises.. being snowed in, or flooding, or some other incident, we help one another and we watch out for one another. I'd say that is about as perfect as it gets.
 
Hi quick silver,
You've got it in one, be friendly and not hostile "But" but if needed or indeed you feel you need help "both leave the door adjar" just incase.
 
I think my relationship with the neighbors is perfect. We are not buddy-buddy... we do not visit each other's houses.. We try to be considerate of one another with noise iissues.. We wave hello over the fence... that's about it. HOWEVER, when a problem arises.. being snowed in, or flooding, or some other incident, we help one another and we watch out for one another. I'd say that is about as perfect as it gets.


This pretty much describes my relationship with my neighbors -- we chat when we meet in the street or something, but we all pitch in if one of us needs help. We keep an eye on each other's houses when someone is gone.
 
I think as we get older, most of us have learned to establish and respect boundaries – although not always. I don’t recall if it was here or another site but where I lived about 10 yrs ago I had a few neighbors who really got on my nerves. It was a more transient area (used to be very nice but kind of went downhill), and there was a lot of knocking on doors, borrowing, wanting to get into people’s lives…ugh. I had to get firm with a couple people and it didn’t go over well. But now I’m very pleased with my neighbor relationships. Civil, not too close, but quite comfortable.
 
My neighbors are well removed, on top of which, my property is completely surrounded by an eighth foot wall with locked gates. They are reasonably quiet, as am I, and I rarely hear them at all through my soundproofing and double-paned windows, which I seldom open. We don't know each other, we've never spoken and I'm quite certain they'd never realize it if I were to drop dead. I have a cell phone for 'emergencies', which is always turned off unless I need to make a call myself. I have no family and do not cultivate friends so I'm fairly confident that I'm not missing anything important. I only leave the house when I need something from the store and I can go weeks between such occasions.

So I guess the short answer to this question would be, "Neighbors? WHAT neighbors?!"
 
My first thought was "Is there cake?" I'd be thrilled if they just sent over a piece of cake. I wouldn't mind at all not being invited. My neighbors know me well enough to not bother inviting me to parties and so far, none have sent over cake. We have had neighbors give us wine, chocolates and cookies for watching their dogs while they were out of town or as a "sorry to hear you are having surgery" gift. We are "talking over the fence" neighbors. I don't go in there house and they don't come in mine. My husband goes over and helps out with this and that sometimes and he's also more chatty than I am.
 
The first thing that came to my mind when I read this it made me wonder if by sending food over to you ,did they expect you in return to send a gift to the kid that graduated.
Another thing I was wondering was if they invited a lot of the other neighbors and just left you out. If the other neighbors weren't invited did they also get a dish of food afterwards like you did. Knowing any of that would be how I would react to the food.
 
The first thing that came to my mind when I read this it made me wonder if by sending food over to you ,did they expect you in return to send a gift to the kid that graduated.
Another thing I was wondering was if they invited a lot of the other neighbors and just left you out. If the other neighbors weren't invited did they also get a dish of food afterwards like you did. Knowing any of that would be how I would react to the food.

I think if I wasn't invited to the party on their premises, they shouldn't expect a gift. Sending food over is kind of short notice for that. It was probably some leftovers and they said, "What can we do with this?", so sent it over to get rid of it. Just speculation on my part, though. It was a while ago, and I do not know or care who was on the guest list. It's not like I was standing out at the fence and peering in their yard.
 
There have been numerous parties in my neighborhood to which I have not been invited. I have never expected to be and in fact, when the young couple next door has a party, I make myself scarce. We all have a right to privacy, and our yards are close so I extend that courtesy to any neighbors. My party days are over, but if I had people over, I would kind of expect similar courtesy. Maybe sending a slice of cake would be a nice gesture, but more than that, I wouldn't do or even expect anyone to do. Neighbors are neighbors--some may know each other a long time and have become friends but for the most part, are not really friends or relatives, so no hurt feelings there!
 
Hey I'm not a social butterfly in our neighborhood. Send some cake, potato salad and Jerk Chicken and we'll appreciate you forever:love_heart:
 

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