In the days when i was growing up, everybody knew their closest neighbours' names. There was interaction and visits between them. But i it seems that has changed these days or it my imagination?

there is nothing like that in the states, except ur neigbors are Nigerians. I've lived in a place for almost 5 years now, i don't know who the heck my neigbors are. Inshort i don't want to know them cuz i don't want anyone to carry me at night.

yeah i find it really weird that neighbours abroad dont really care for one another. you can be living next to someone for 10 years and not even give a damn what they do for a living, their kids names, what they like etc. i hate it. living abroad can suck sometimes cos westerners are so concerned about their individuality as opposed to collectivity (is that the right word?). everybody just minds thier own business. even on the street, when people are passing by each, everybody is just lost in thought and even if someone is attacking u on the road, everybody just looks the other way. what kind of life is that? no wonder there's so much depression and social issues in that country! we're all human and we should learn to mix with each other. not to be in people's business all the time, but a little smile or hello to a stranger goes a long way. we're all we've got on this earth. eachother. see why some peeps have pets and interact with them as if they're talking to humans. because it is getting hard to socialize with normal human beings! good lawd!

in naija, even though neighbours are nosy and all up in your bidness  , at least its fun to be able to socialize with the people in your community. in case you weren't home and your house wasn't being burglarized or on fire, at least you know your neighbours got your back and they will do everything withing their power to help. na lie, oyinbo man go just manage to call 911 for you sha

everybody just minds their own business

isnt that a good thing?

Dis Guy:

isnt that a good thing?

Not Really.

I like the concept of balance so while sometimes i may like my own space, it is also "ok" to have neighbors that at least show some concern and care about my welfare and vice versa.

The trouble is with Nigerians. Most of us are a bunch of noisy people, especially the older generation. It is no different whether it is Nigerians in Nigeria, or those in diaspora. Sometimes, people need to be sensitive and just observe rather than be involved in other people's matters.

@topic nahhhhhhhhh

my neighbors are Chinese peeps, apart from being able to tell them apart facially i don't know jack about em. and i love it!

My neighbours? I won't recognise them.Don't know what they look like

I-man:

My neighbours? I won't recognise them.Don't know what they look like

Why and how can that be? Except you are a hermit or don't live around other Nigerian folk  or one of those people in the UK that just turns up his nose when greeted

i feel guilty on this one-No i don't.I try as much as possible to mind my biz.

Imani:

Why and how can that be? Except you are a hermit or don't live around other Nigerian folk  or one of those people in the UK that just turns up his nose when greeted

I'm a bit reclusive.   The world is a dangerous place.  

Seriously,I need to know my neighbours.Just realised that recently.I want to travel and I need  them to take care of the house.Its a measure of the hectic and unsociable existence we live in the West.

I-man:

I'm a bit reclusive. The world is a dangerous place.

ha ! ha na today?

I-man:


Seriously,I need to know my neighbours.Just realised that recently.I want to travel and I need them to take care of the house.Its a measure of the hectic and unsociable existence we live in the West.

1st start by identifying them, and making nice with them

baking rum cake errweekend for them till you travel should do the trick

I-man:

I'm a bit reclusive.   The world is a dangerous place. 

Seriously,I need to know my neighbours.Just realised that recently.I want to travel and I need  them to take care of the house.Its a measure of the hectic and unsociable existence we live in the West.

You only want to know your neighbours so they can do stuff for you. How convinient opportunistic

Anyway, some english folk are very nice. My family have left the house key with one of our neighbours several times. Some neighbours have help others look after their pets in their absence.

It does foster community relations and minimises friction when people at least know each other casually. It's just a shame their is no culture of "cummunity" due to other pressures such as work.

@ soul

yeah its kind of sad but that is how it is. i took it on me one day to just intro myself. I saw this lady moving into our community (she is opposite where i'm staying). on a very good and bright afternoon, i saw her as i went to pick up mails. I stopped by and intro myself. ''hello, my name is Omoge am your neighbor, welcome here. stop by if you need any help or tools to work with. here is my number. she told me her name and where she works. then i left.

that was donkey months ago lol so far she never said hello to me nor anything. we both looked like strangers. we jam anytime we putting the trash out and no greetings or anything. i tried greeting her but the look on her face just made me to stay jeje o lol

they just don't care. and really nobody want to know your business just hello how are yous.

well, am still going to know my neighbors with or w/o their action dramas  

I thought i must be terribly unlucky to be "blessed" with unsociable neighbours, thank God its a general thing. 
I knew one of my neighbours where i first lived, errr it had more to do with her dog always giving me a tough time the first 1-2 months i moved in and her always having to come down and appologize. After that we got a bit closer, she was a cute single doctor living alone. Sad i had to move after 1 yr. We still say hi when we meet anyway.

The new neighbours, na dog wahala again make us jam. Nice couple horrible dog. As for the others, i don't even know how they look like. this country sef na wa. Not even to turn the street into a small soccer pitch on saturday morning for boys to socialise! Kai, i miss naija!

No carrying a carton of drinks over to ur next door neighbours basement to watch champions league football. Absolutely NOTHING! What kind of people exist in this country? no wonder Cho was so depressed!

my current neighbours are a handful, girls who can't keep their clothes on and guys whose only pre-ccupation is drinking.
Dont you guys envy me?

omoge:

@ soul

yeah its kind of sad but that is how it is. i took it on me one day to just intro myself. I saw this lady moving into our community (she is opposite where i'm staying). on a very good and bright afternoon, i saw her as i went to pick up mails. I stopped by and intro myself. ''hello, my name is Omoge am your neighbor, welcome here. stop by if you need any help or tools to work with. here is my number. she told me her name and where she works. then i left.

that was donkey months ago lol so far she never said hello to me nor anything. we both looked like strangers. we jam anytime we putting the trash out and no greetings or anything. i tried greeting her but the look on her face just made me to stay jeje o lol

they just don't care. and really nobody want to know your business just hello how are yous.

well, am still going to know my neighbors with or w/o their action dramas

LMAO! i have a similar experience




for the first time! last night my chinco neighbour said hi to me

i was trudging home jejely, really knackered i saw him dropping the trash outside the house, then he said HI

i had to look at my self and look at my shadow ! _{did this chinco man just say hi to me?}

i had to answer him back oh : oh hi how' re you doing

chinco man wey i don greet tire before wey dey look me as if i dey transparent?
shuo! na today?

I-man:

Seriously,I need to know my neighbours.Just realised that recently.I want to travel and I need  them to take care of the house.Its a measure of the hectic and unsociable existence we live in the West.

Imani:

You only want to know your neighbours so they can do stuff for you. How convinient opportunistic

Hehehehe. . . . .

davidylan:

No carrying a carton of drinks over to your next door neighbours basement to watch champions league football. Absolutely NOTHING! What kind of people exist in this country? no wonder Cho was so depressed!

@davidylan. lmao my point exactly o. the western society is so unsociable its a pity. the poor guy mustv'e felt like a recluse o, na him he come shoot everybody kill himself. a pity!

times have really changed from back in the day sha, apart from neighbours being impersonal, have u noticed how even kids have changed? back in the day we used to be happy riding our bikes outdoors, climb tree branches, playing ten-ten (no lie say you never play 10-10, eyin girls) . nowadays kids lock themselves in their rooms playing computer games, Wii, playstation/xbox and the likes. very little contact with the outside world. na wa o! i really enjoyed my childhood because it gave me a chance to appreciate nature (ok, maybe we was a little broke and couldnt afford games.  he he)
but i'm sure you can catch my drift. times have just changed sha, and not really for the better.
in as much as i love technology and the easier it makes things, its making human beings lose connection with each other

ikamefa:

LMAO! i have a similar experience




for the first time! last night my chinco neighbour said hi to me

i was trudging home jejely, really knackered i saw him dropping the trash outside the house, then he said HI

i had to look at my self and look at my shadow ! _{did this chinco man just say hi to me?}

i had to answer him back oh : oh hi how' re you doing

chinco man wey i don greet tire before wey dey look me as if i dey transparent?
shuo! na today?

Lady Ika, which wan be chinco? Nigerians and name calling!! Hope you know there are a few of them on this forum?!

Anyway, your story is one i can relate to. You say hello to some people and it is like you are talking to wood. Some peoples face can be so hard, that sometimes, it is better to just let them be.

No wonder, people miss Nigeria a lot!! Nobody to impress or oppress.

soulpatrol:

times have really changed from back in the day sha, apart from neighbours being impersonal, have u noticed how even kids have changed? back in the day we used to be happy riding our bikes outdoors, climb tree branches, playing ten-ten (no lie say you never play 10-10, eyin girls) . nowadays kids lock themselves in their rooms playing computer games, Wii, playstation/xbox and the likes. very little contact with the outside world. na wa o! i really enjoyed my childhood because it gave me a chance to appreciate nature (ok, maybe we was a little broke and couldnt afford games.  he he)
but i'm sure you can catch my drift. times have just changed sha, and not really for the better.
in as much as i love technology and the easier it makes things, its making human beings lose connection with each other

at Tenten. well, gone are the good old days . Then you could play with the neighbours kids, visit each other at home. Having "aunty, give me cake parties", costume parties, end of the year parties at the parents work places . . . was so cool. At a certain age, a child can wander off and can be expected to be back by his/her self. It was so serene discovering your own environment and exploring the neigbourhood in groups or gangs

Nowadays, things couldn't be more different. It is very rare to see a child by itself due to fear of paedophiles and the likes. Parents have become very protective and sometimes paranoid. I probably feel that way as i remember as a child, i could wander off at least in my area without threats. But now, people don't even know their neighbours and couldn't care less. With the advance of technology, it is no surprise, there is an increase in the amount of geeks. Some people spend more time on their computer than with people, even in the same house!!

davidylan:

I thought i must be terribly unlucky to be "blessed" with unsociable neighbours, thank God its a general thing. 
I knew one of my neighbours where i first lived, errr it had more to do with her dog always giving me a tough time the first 1-2 months i moved in and her always having to come down and appologize. After that we got a bit closer, she was a cute single doctor living alone. Sad i had to move after 1 yr. We still say hi when we meet anyway.

The new neighbours, na dog wahala again make us jam. Nice couple horrible dog. As for the others, i don't even know how they look like. this country sef na wa. Not even to turn the street into a small soccer pitch on saturday morning for boys to socialise! Kai, i miss naija!

No carrying a carton of drinks over to your next door neighbours basement to watch champions league football. Absolutely NOTHING! What kind of people exist in this country? no wonder Cho was so depressed!

What is it with you and dogs?! Maybe you should get one yourself, at least, that way, you and your neighbours can have some kind of mutual rapport.

yeah it's all do it yourself here o davidylan. go to wegmans and buy you a pack of beer and rent blockbuster movies. order pizza yourself and then enjoy it yourself lol. that's how it is.

@ Ika, lol. I guess the guy just had a good day maybe no bills on his table.

greeting pple here is becoming hard cuz they will not even ans you and funny some will be looking at you when you greet them. remmy those days when you go pass your neighbor ten times and greet ten times lol.

everyone is busy but not really busy

@ Imani, me sef i wonder. I think those dogs are racist! As soon as they see me they start barking like crazy and trying to jump the wire fence. You should see the owners running down to say sorry as if the dog actually bit me in the leg.
Anyway thanks to them i actually got to know the fellas living next door.

@ Omoge, no wonder 50% of the American population has problems with obesity. what a lifestyle! In naija u just could not be fat lai lai! What with all the soccer games and running around the neighborhoood with fellows u barely even knew.

@ikamefa

my neighbors are Chinese peeps, apart from being able to tell them apart facially i don't know jack about em. and i love it!

for Isialangwa? Just curious

nossycheek:

@ikamefa

for Isialangwa? Just curious

LMAO! yes na " " _{nahhhhhhhhhh! in the BK}

omoge:



@ Ika, lol. I guess the guy just had a good day maybe no bills on his table.

greeting people here is becoming hard because they will not even ans you and funny some will be looking at you when you greet them. remmy those days when you go pass your neighbor ten times and greet ten times lol.

everyone is busy but not really busy

you may be right you know prolly the china-man just had a good brain wave when i was passing by.when i was growing up in 9ja you dare not pass by your neighbor outside his house without saying hello to him or her

try that here, and see the rxns you are going to get


@imani no mind me jare, am sure they've got colorful names for 9jan peeps too
you are right about missing 9ja oh! Nobody to impress and oppress you about Greetings

sadly the american attitude seems to have rubbed off on me. Now i can work in the same building with you for a whole yr and never greet you once or even know ur name!!! I've been in a lab for 2 yrs and i dont know 50% of those i work with!
In naija even the most shy individual would know everyone within 6 months!

@david you need to change oh!

get Un-americanized fast! " "

na wa for this culture sha.
My pikin dey carry kaya go boarding school in naija to learn how to respect his elders not calling his father an idiot when he feels like.

I think a lot of people moving to the UK live in large towns and cities and yes, they can be very unfriendly places.

If you lived in a village or a small town then you'd find it much friendlier and with much more of a community feeling. I don't know all my neighbours but I know some of them. We do help each other out. The lock on my front door broke recently and I couldn't get back into my house and I ended up with 4 of my neighbours all trying to help me.

On the other hand, my Nigerian boyfriend says it's nice to live somewhere where people don't feel they can interfere in your life all the time!

davidylan:

sadly the american attitude seems to have rubbed off on me. Now i can work in the same building with you for a whole yr and never greet you once or even know your name!!! I've been in a lab for 2 years and i don't know 50% of those i work with!
In naija even the most shy individual would know everyone within 6 months!

Actually, i think it is the western world in general, not just America.

It is even worse when you are in science/lab situation where everyone is very "serious". During my lab experience year, i worked with some british guys and was shocked that a particular guy couldn't even say hello to an ex-employee, a british herself, who worked in that lab for years. So, i wasn't too surprised or bothered when i walked past some of my lab "colleagues" without saying a word and some of them even avoided eye contact by looking at the ceiling.

kai, what kind of environment is that o, eyin people? its indeed hard for nigerians who are generally easy going and sociable. when i came to yankee, i came with the attitude to make as many friends as possible, starting with the people around me i.e. neighbours. right? but na lie, everybody go just tight face just do their own bidness. it has even made me keep to myself o, see me see trouble. i dont want to end up with one kind psychological/neurotic problem like most of the people here. wetin i for do? hmmm
when you say ordinary hello, its as if you're asking them for their bank account number. them no fit open mouth say hi back. rubbish. western peeps need to losen up, abeg. naija has more problems than then, and we should be the one with social issues, not the other way round.

It's not the American's fault. They are too busy thinking about how they will pay their taxes and eat.