“Every time I go outside in my garden… my neighbours try to interact with me,” a disgruntled Jeff* said about his real life problem.
“During summer, my neighbours are sitting in their garden the whole day and then in a half drunken state will try to have conversations with me.”
Not wanting to appear rude, or end up in a neighbourhood feud, Jeff politely replies but tries to keep the conversations short.
Stifling a smile, Jeff just wants to be able to enjoy his garden alone but can’t step a foot outside without catching their attention.
“It’s getting to a point where I try not going outside to my garden when I hear that my neighbours are outside,” Jeff shared to Reddit.
Not sure on how to navigate the situation, he asked the Reddit community: “How would you guys deal with such a situation?”
A person responded: “Be honest; say hello back and if they continue the conversation say that you would love to talk another time but that you are now going to: enjoy the sun, read your paper, listen to your music, do some gardening, or any other activity.
“Having nice neighbours is a luxury, so investing in your relationship by having some small talk now and then is a small price to pay.”
But Jeff hit back saying he doesn’t mind “small talk at all” but his neighbours emotional dump their problems onto him and are known as “outspoken” troublemakers.
One Reddit user quipped: “This reminds me of the guy that pretended to be deaf for a really long time because of a difficult neighbour.”
Another commentator insisted that Jeff has the “right to privacy” but he insisted Jeff would need to let them know that he would like to be left alone in peace.
“They won’t know unless you tell them,” asserted the commentator. “Just go up to them and go, “listen, I don’t mind a neighbourly chat every so often, but not like this over a fence.
“‘This feels an awful lot like an invasion of my privacy and it makes me uncomfortable, so could you please please stop? Thank you.’
“You don’t have to be rude about it, but you can stand up for yourself in a way that both protects you and doesn’t hurt your neighbours feelings.”
*Name has been changed.
