socially awkward nester needs help :)

hitchdNmay · October 2011

Hi ladies (and the occasional dude)---

Couldn't find a board that was appropriate for my question (or one that would actually help me in any sort of productive manner...lots of trolls out there lol) but I knew the Michigan girls would show me some love :')

Just moved back to the Detroit area about 2 months ago, after living in CA for the past 5 years. Husband and I live in a small-ish apartment complex and I've literally met NONE of my neighbors yet. I never see anyone come or go; kind of weird. I've always been kind of the shyish type, definitely NOT A-type personality or anything and have trouble meeting new people....it would be super nice to actually meet some neighbors so we could have a sense of community but I don't know how to do that, unless it's the 1950's way of knocking on their doors and giving them a basket of cookies or something. Anyone have any suggestions? We've never really made good friends with any of our neighbors in the past 5 years and I'm seriously looking to change that.

Thanks for reading. Yup, major dork here

stebbe81 · October 2011

I am the same way. We have lived in the same place for the last year and I have no idea what my neighbor's names are. Maybe you could come up with a reason to knock on some doors even if the reason seems lame. Maybe you could knock on a few neighbor's doors and ask them about Halloween and if they get many kids in the complex because you want to buy enough candy if they get a bunch. Even if you know the answer it would be a legit reason to knock on the door. Good luck!

kzoomaggie · October 2011

Hm... That's a tough one. I have some awesome neighbors that have become close friends, but the only reason I met them was because we're both pretty outgoing people and they came right up to me and introduced themselves as soon as we moved in. I probably wouldn't go knocking on doors, but I would definitely say hi in the hallway if you see someone around. But if you don't see people around, that's kind of hard to do.

Does your apartment have any sort of community activites? Ours always had a bunch of activities and that would be a great way to meet some people. If your complex doesn't have any activities, you could ask if you could organize something. It could be something as simple as raking leaves in the complex or having a movie night in the community center (assuming you have a community center).

It really comes down to making a decision that you want to get out there and meet people. You just have to get over your fears and start introducing yourself!

Good luck!