Published on 12, July, 2020
I've realised that people prefer it if I start with pleasantries, not just going straight to the point of what I want to say.
e.g. just now I went to get my recycling bin after it had been emptied. At least I thought it was my bin. I saw my neighbour getting into his car so I called 'is this my bin?' He looked blankly at me and said, 'hello, how are you? Haven't seen you for a while.' I was confused, I needed to know if that bin was mine or his. He was confused because he hadn't seen me for a while and wanted to say hello, not talk about bins.
Then it dawned on me, ta dahhhhhhhhhh! I should have said 'hello how are you?' Before launching into the questions about the bin.
I like to get straight to the point, never mind chit chat. Most humans prefer the chit chat first.
I hope this has been helpful
I don't know if this is off-topic or not, but I'm generally disinterested in neighbourly gossip or chit chat. Unless I know someone really well, it's an effort to be interested in what strangers or acquaintances chatter about without any pre-warning. I simply find myself smiling and nodding, and then, without thinking, blurting out, "Sorry, I'm late for [insert wherever I'm going]"
It's self preservation for me. I am usually alone at home all day, I need to be able to turn to my neighbours when I feel attacked or scared.
Also when my daughter was very ill, I was alone at home with her all day. I couldn't get to the shops for bread and milk etc, so I made friends with my neighbours and they would go to the shops to buy things for me.