There’s a difference between being neighborly and being taken advantage of.

Most people who live close to others really do not want to be seen as the problem neighbor. Life is a lot more pleasant when those who live in your local area think of you as a nice and considerate person, and besides, fostering community by doing favors and hosting social events can prove to be a very rewarding thing to do.

At the same time, there are neighbors who can’t help but take a good thing and ruin it, leading to some awkward conversations. They see the people who live near them being generous, and think that is a cue to take as much from them as they can. Some are happy to keep giving, but many others see this kind of behavior as crossing a boundary. If this is an inconvenience where they are getting nothing in return, they will start to have second thoughts about being nice.

The only way to put a stop to these kinds of arrangements is clear communication, but not everybody is going to be reasonable about this. Even if they are, some feel guilty about putting their foot down and no longer accepting what they once tolerated.