You can choose your neighborhood and your home, but you cannot choose your neighbors. That’s a shame too, because let’s face it, sometimes neighbors can be annoying, obnoxious, and often, just plain nosey.
Since you can’t choose your neighbors, you need to find a way to deal with them. Here we will show you some creative ways to deal with bad and nosey neighbors.
Evaluate the Situation
The first thing you must do is consider why your neighbors are behaving in the manner that they are. If your neighbor is nosey, it is necessary to find out why they are so intrusive and curious about you and your lifestyle. Is it because they don’t have friends and are trying to subconsciously reach out to you or whether they want to snoop and invade your privacy? Depending on the reason, you need to address the situation very differently. For instance, if you are in Washington, DC, in a community that seems inquisitive, your neighbors may be acting in a way consistent with that area.
If you have neighbors that are just not good neighbors—they play loud music, are continually making excessive noise, have animals that disrupt your property, etc.—you need to put their actions or failure to act in perspective.
Discuss with Other Neighbors
Find out if other neighbors have similar experiences with the problematic neighbor. Nosey people are often not good at making friends and need some assistance in this regard. Get other people’s perspective on your neighbor’s behavior and use it to help evaluate their true intentions.
Introduce Yourself
If you have neighbors that are nosey or acting in a way that is unfavorable to your view of how a neighbor should be, the first thing you must do is introduce yourself. This should be done in a completely positive and neighborly way.
This opens the lines of communication and gives you both a chance to get to know a little about each other. It is easier to address any issues you have in the future if you do it as associates rather than enemies.
Confront Your Neighbor
At some point in time, you will have to address your neighbor’s actions and how they make you feel. If your neighbors are too loud after dark, you may want to say, "Jim, I know you like to party, I have done my share in the past, but I have always tried to make sure that others were not able to hear my music late at night. My family has been asking me to talk to you about turning your music down. Is this possible?”
If they are nosey, tell them you enjoy your right to privacy and are uncomfortable when people are too intrusive. Politely let them know that you promise never to invade their privacy and that you hope that they will do the same.
Conclusion
This is an absolute last resort, and will surely make it nearly impossible to reach common ground in the future. However, If your neighbors do anything that crosses the line legally or violates any local ordinances or statutes, and conversations and warnings do not help, then contacting the authorities will surely help to put an end to any bad behavior.
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