Neighbors: Friends of Foes?
Whether you live in an apartment building in the city or in a nice house in the suburbs, there’s one thing both residences have in common: neighbors. Everyone (or at least most people) want to get along well with their neighbors, but in some cases, having a cordial relationship is impossible. And it might not even be your fault.
In some situations, your neighbors, even the ones that you barely meet, give you the side eye and treat you with hostility. Is it just your imagination or do your neighbors really not like you?
Let’s analyze some of their gestures and micro-expressions to see if you are paranoia or in the right when it comes to your neighbors’ feelings towards you.
Never making direct eye contact
Some people cannot hide their dislike for others. If you meet one of your neighbors (or more) and greet them, only for them to avoid making eye contact, it might be because they don’t like you. Lack of acknowledgment might mean that they do not want to interact with you.
If this happens more often than not, pay attention if they have the same MO with other people. If they do, it might be a case of social phobia. If it only happens when you’re around, it might be a case of aversion towards you alone.
Disgusted eyes
The eyes don’t lie. One’s look can be quite revealing in terms of their feelings and thoughts about another person. If your neighbor is constantly giving you the side eye, looking at you with disgust, take it as a clear indication that you are not among their favorite people. One can fake liking someone through words, but when the eyes send a different message, trust that their feelings are the ones expressed by their eyes.
Avoiding you on purpose
Sometimes, when leaving your apartment/house/building or when entering, you might see your neighbors for a few seconds. It might seem nothing at first, but, on second thought, you realize that they have deliberately avoided you, choosing a different route or closing their door so that they won’t have to interact with you. When they do come out, it’s only after making sure you are no longer in the proximity.
What does this mean? Well, it is clearly not an indication that they like you; in fact, it shows that they do not want to have anything to do with you, even if this means ridiculously hiding behind closed doors.
Talking about you behind your back
If you find out that one of your neighbors is talking trash about you, it’s safe to assume that you are not one of their favorite neighbors. Gossiping is a clear sign that someone does not like you. Some people like to spread rumors about others about other people and their families, not taking into account the damage that they might cause. They have no issue discussing other people’s business, even more delicate topics, such as couple relationships, job problems etc.
If you do have such neighbors, it doesn’t even matter if they like you or not, it’s best to avoid gossipers no matter what.
Loud music at night
Is there anything more annoying than trying to sleep while your neighbors play loud music all night long? If you have been “blessed” with such party people and had to go over to their place to ask them to keep the party to themselves, with no result, not a favorable one of you anyway, it might be that your neighbors don’t like you or care about your opinion, for that matter.
When everything else fails (talking to your noisy neighbors, to the building manager or even calling the police), a ceiling vibrator might do the trick and “force” your neighbors to lower the volume on their music.
See also: 11 Things That Make Your Home an Easy Target for Burglars
Giving you fake smiles
One way to know when someone is truly and sincerely smiling at you is to notice if they smile reaches their eyes. Yes, the eyes again, as they are the window to one’s soul. If one of your neighbors does not like you, their smile will not be able to hide their dislike towards you. If the eyes do not crinkle up and the rest of their face remains still, you can bet their smile is insincere.
Sometimes, a fake smile might hide shyness, tiredness or anxiety; however, if you notice that you are always at the receiving end of a fake smile, it might be that that person doesn’t see you in a good light.
The conversation is always short and impersonal
Do you recall the last interaction you had with a particular neighbor? Did they give you the impression that they were eager for the conversation to end so that they could leave? Did they seem like they wanted to be anywhere else but talking to you? Was the conversation short and vague?
When someone, in this case, a neighbor, secretly dislikes you, they will most likely try to stop the conversation and give you brief and unemotional answers such as “I’m good,” or “everything’s fine” an find a poor excuse to leave.
No physical contact
In this case, physical contact refers to gestures of social nature, like handshakes, hugs, pats on the back and the like. Friendly neighbors greet one another and use all sorts of gestures to show they are happy to see each other.
If you notice that some neighbors are friendly and outgoing with others, shake hands, use pats on the back and are all smiles but change their behavior the minute you join the group, then something’s wrong. Being friendly whit other while completely avoiding you is a sure sign that they are not willing to allow you into their personal space and group of friends/neighbors.
Never accept your invitations
If your neighbor seems to like social events, always attends neighborly gatherings such as barbecues and birthday parties, but never invite you, then it might be that they do not like you. If you are the one that always gets banned from attending neighborhood events, as if you’re not part of the community, it is clear that you are not wanted there.
Whatever the reason, your neighbors would rather risk upsetting you than inviting you to their gatherings.
See also: Living Alone? Making These Mistakes Could Jeopardize Your Life
Always contradicting you
If you and your neighbors never seem to see eye to eye, no matter the topic, regardless of you being right or wrong, and they have no problem contradicting you whenever you open your mouth, then it’s clear that they dislike you. They do not care if you might feel offended by their attitude and do not want to hear your point of view, invalidating it from the very beginning.
Takeaway
As explained in our article, there are some signs, some very clear actually, that indicate that your neighbor does not like you. It’s not exactly pleasant to have a strained relationship with neighbors, but you need to know something very important: if someone doesn’t like you, most of the times, it’s not about you, it’s about themselves. Many such situations can be solved with amicable conversations. So, communicate, try not to take it personally but do fight for your own peace and quiet if necessary.
