Say hello to your neighbors

Meet your new neighbors. The ones next door, the ones in the rest of the building, and hopefully a few throughout the block.

This doesn’t need to be difficult or scary. The one with the dog upstairs is always walking by — you can just say, “Aw, your dog is so cute. I’m Jackie, by the way, I just moved in. I’m in [apt. number] if you ever need anything!” And she’ll say, “Oh, I didn’t realize someone new moved in! I’m Jane, nice to meet you.”

Say hi to the others soon; it gets harder the longer you wait. Some might turn out to be like Catherine and Greg from next door at the last place — an older couple who invited you and Serena in for wine and cheese a few times a year in exchange for plant watering, who chatted with you about politics and travel and movies and work, who felt genuinely sad to see you move and told you to come back and visit. Hopefully, none turn out to be like the guy below you in the apartment before that, who launched a brick through his window in the middle of the night.

Probably most will be people you simply nod at and say hello to in passing, and maybe knock on their door in some kind of pinch, which will feel much better after you’ve already introduced yourself. It seems good to know who’s literally beside you.