Neighbours are the people that live in the same street, building or apartment block. They are usually people of similar social class as you. You may not know them very well or at all but they are still people that live and sleep a few steps away from you every day.
The question of whether you should be friends with your neighbours is a tricky one. It can be argued that you don’t need to be friends with your neighbours, but there can be many benefits to this type of friendship.
The pros and cons of being close to your neighbours:
Pros of being friends with your neighbours:
Being friends with your neighbours can be a good thing for you and for them. It can help you to get to know each other better and make sure that everyone is looking out for each other.
It can also help you to get through tough times when you need someone there for you and it’s nice to have someone who cares about what happens in your life and keeps a close eye on you in your neighbourhood. However, depending on your personality type; you may like or hate this kind of attention but overall there can be good things about it.
For example, if you need help, they can lend a hand or even keep an eye on your house when you are away. They also provide support if something bad happens to someone in the neighbourhood.
Moreover, if anything happens; such as a robbery or something else, you can call on them for help and they will be able to do so in return. And again as mentioned; if you happen to need someone to look after your house when you go on vacation, they can help out too.
There is a sense of community and it is easier to get things done. You can also have a feeling of safety when you know that there are people who care about you in the neighbourhood. However, it can be difficult to make friends with your neighbours if you don’t live close enough to anyone.
Cons of being friends with your neighbours:
Living in a small community can be really great. You know who you’re living next to, and you’re more likely to have shared interests with them. But it also means that you’re less likely to have any privacy.
We should not make friends with our neighbours if we perceive their involvement in our life as an invasion of privacy. With someone knowing so much about us and having the possibility to show up unannounced on our doorstep all the time, we could end up having no privacy in our own home.
If we live in a big city, the need for neighbour friends can seem more intense. There will be a lot of people around us and it is hard not to feel lonely and empty even with so many busy crowds around us. This is when we may feel that if we have a friend in the neighbourhood, they can take care of us or help us when something bad happens.
But, what if our neighbour is someone who likes to gossip? What if they tell everyone in the neighbourhood about our personal business? It would be really embarrassing and it would create tension between them and ourselves. It could even cause anxiety or a need for us to move houses, which can be very difficult if we’re owners and not tenants.
It’s easy to become friends with your neighbour, but it’s also important to be aware of their motives for being your friend. They might just want to use you as a source for gossip or as someone who will watch their children for them so they can go out.
Either way, any relationship that is not beneficial to both parties involved could turn toxic. That’s why you should watch out and see what you do for them that they don’t do back for you.
If your neighbours are very different from you (e.g. they’re noisy and rowdy), then it might be hard for you to get along with them, anyway. If you don’t like the way they live; (e.g. if they’re too high-maintenance or if they’re constantly trying to sell things on their doorstep or turn their house into a carnival) then it might cause you discomfort.
The bottom line:
Either way, It is important that you are able to be cordial with your neighbours, even if you don’t particularly like them. It can be hard to maintain a relationship when you don’t live in close proximity, but sometimes it is worth the effort.
It’s important in the end to remember that not everyone is going to be the same as you and that it’s not necessary for all neighbours to get along.
That being said, it may be beneficial for neighbours who live close by and share common interests and values to become friends. However, that’s only if they also want that friendship to form, as you can easily guess that it is not easy to be friends with someone who doesn’t want, doesn’t like you or is simply not interested.