Do you know your neighbors?

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Agent Of Fortune
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Do you know your neighbors?

Post by Agent Of Fortune »

A study shows that most young people do not know their neighbors, whereas people over the age of 65 tend to have better relationships with those living around them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8393872.stm

I have to say, I don't really know my neighbors at all. It's been almost two years since we moved into where we live now, and I will talk to people that walk by/live next door/across the street, but I couldn't tell you any of their names. I don't really want to, honestly. Not a big fan of talking to people in general. :-D

It's interesting to think about what caused this shift. I'm wondering if it had to do with being brought up in a world where we "don't talk to strangers"? Or perhaps just the isolation that comes from living in a world where there is enough to keep you entertained in your house that you don't really need to go outside.

P.S. Yes, I'm an American that gets his news from the BBC. :-P It's a lot more straightforward and honest than CNN or MSNBC.
Jeff
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Re: Do you know your neighbors?

Post by Jeff »

The reason why 65+ year old's know their neighbors better is because they have their old people events, live in gated communities with a club house where they get together, and they don't work.

As for myself I absolutely don't want to know the people in my apartment complex well. There is four apartments in what I call a white people ghetto. There are about six or so buildings like it. It's month to month so I can leave in a months notice as opposed to a year lease to go to Naples, FL which is my objective. The woman about my age across from my door is a lazy welfare recipient who if you say hi to her she'll walk away, very unpleasant. The state comes to her house to bring her name brand, expensive food courtesy of my tax dollars while I try to by generic to make ends meet. The guy under her is a half retarded part time mail worker who also gets disability from the state. The guy under me is an army guy who is also 26 and is a complete mental case. The other tenants called the police on the guy. He blares his subwoofer all the time playing war games and screaming, slams doors, and a whole bunch of erratic behavior. I pray that he is deployed to Afganistan soon but he is so mentally deficient I doubt he'd be cleared to go there.

That's about as diplomatic as I can word it. Vermont is a dying state with lower and lower tax revenue because all of the business are being scared out to either NY or NH by socialist loons. I work in an industrial section of Middlebury, VT and most of the businesses around me left. Every corner that I can see from my office is an abandoned warehouse or office. It's pathetic.

So now that I got that out of my system, I found that it is best to just know a neighbor with just a 'how's it going" and 'nice weather'. That way you stay neutral. No enemies, no friends. Make friends outside your general living area. I find that's the best policy.
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Ryudo
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Re: Do you know your neighbors?

Post by Ryudo »

Why get to know the people you live next to when that requires walking outside when you can go to facebook and twitter and xboxlive and such and have people read what mundane thing you did that day or scream at them vulgar names in Halo! :o
========================================================================
Jokes aside.
Most people in my neighborhood know who everyone is young and old.


I know some of my neighbors and then the people you never really knew but they always know your name and say hello.
Couple of my friends are also my neighbors.
That said I still don't know most the people on my street....I mean I know their faces and where they live but names or if I talked to them..not really.
I love where I live though since it always gives me the Yamanose feeling and then I walk directly to the Shopping district near so it feels like walking to Dobuita for me.
:D
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Agent Of Fortune
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Re: Do you know your neighbors?

Post by Agent Of Fortune »

Ryudo wrote:Why get to know the people you live next to when that requires walking outside when you can go to facebook and twitter and xboxlive and such and have people read what mundane thing you did that day or scream at them vulgar names in Halo! :o
========================================================================
Jokes aside.
Most people in my neighborhood know who everyone is young and old.


I know some of my neighbors and then the people you never really knew but they always know your name and say hello.
Couple of my friends are also my neighbors.
That said I still don't know most the people on my street....I mean I know their faces and where they live but names or if I talked to them..not really.
I love where I live though since it always gives me the Yamanose feeling and then I walk directly to the Shopping district near so it feels like walking to Dobuita for me.
:D
My neighborhood reminds me of Yamanose as well. It's pretty secluded, and I have a forest right across the street. There's a park right around the bend too, that I like to walk my puppy to sometimes. Right down the street there's a little shopping district as well, but its mostly just fast food restaurants. :roll:
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Ryudo
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Re: Do you know your neighbors?

Post by Ryudo »

Yeah we have a couple nearby parks in the neighborhood and this shopping area has everything.
Even an area right now under construction and in the warmer months when it gets to the evening you hear the crows.
Two gaming shops but one is gamestop so I never go there but I go to the other one since they sell older stuff and they call me by name when I enter and it is right next to panda express.
I sometimes go see a movie at the 1$ theater or head to the local diner where they also know me.
The sinclair I guess reminds me of the TCS.

gah sorry got a bit off topic. Sorry.
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tao
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Re: Do you know your neighbors?

Post by tao »

And here I was thinking it was just an Asian thing to not talk to your neighbors :lol:

I wave or say 'hi' to two or three of the neighbors in my condo complex. They're the ones who've been living here the longest. I never engage in any conversations though; I hate small talk and they probably find me weird enough already. I ignore the rest.
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Sterling
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Re: Do you know your neighbors?

Post by Sterling »

I live on the corner of the street, on the other side of the road there's a park connected to some school, on the other side there's some abandoned auto-shop and next to me there's a pub, so technically I have no neighbours to know :) I'd say most of the people who do live nearby however are not so different to Jeff's, so I tend to go a few blocks over to where Chinese students hang out or just forego my town altogether. As Jeff points out, areas that consistently vote in far-left politicians despite their failure and/or corruption seem to suffer from a culture of entitlement, the citizens are generally very selfish and disregard other people because they assume someone else will pick up the slack for them.
What you call love was invented by guys like me, to sell nylons. You're born alone and you die alone and this world just drops a bunch of rules on top of you to make you forget those facts. But I never forget. I'm living like there's no tomorrow, because there isn't one.
beedle
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Re: Do you know your neighbors?

Post by beedle »

I do know the couple next door, but the other side, I don't. They've only just moved in, they seem to keep themselves to themselves.
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Vyse Hazuky
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Re: Do you know your neighbors?

Post by Vyse Hazuky »

I know my neighbours on the same building. But it's not like we chat and that. Just.. some names and occupations. There is never really any trouble, never had the sort of.. neighbourhood disagreements that seem to make the basis of some TV series and pub chats.
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Agent Of Fortune
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Re: Do you know your neighbors?

Post by Agent Of Fortune »

I think with me its just that I grew up in a fairly poor neighborhood with a lot of crime, so there were a lot of people moving in and out all the time, cops getting called, etc, so I grew up with my family being one of teh only honorable ones on the block, so we just sort of kept to ourselves. There were some old people on the block as well, but most of them were convinced that all kids were the same hoodlums, so I mostly stayed away from them too.

A lot of the people we trusted turned out to be criminals in one way or another, so it made it hard to trust people after a while.
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