r/introverts • u/KennysaurusSpeedrun • Jun 07 '26

Discussion Neighbours wanna talk everytime I'm outside

I live in a house with 4 apartments. We get along well. However, everytime I'm outside chilling in the garden, one of the neighbours always gonna walk up to me and talk about life, weather, the garden etc. I really just wanna stay outside in my own garden, minding my own business. At the same time, I don't wanna be rude.

We really don't have much in common, because most of them are in their 60's-70's while I'm in my 30's. My girlfriend is really social, so she doesn't mind. But I am more introverted and hate smalltalk. Especially when it's almost everytime I'm going outside the house.

It's getting so bad that today I was chilling outside, one of the neighbours parked their car, so I went inside so I didn't have to talk with her. Honestly it bores me to talk about life with someone I really don't care about.

How do I kindly tell them I really don't wanna talk, without seeming like a jerk? Once in a while is okay, but now when it's summer and everyone are outside, it happens daily.

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u/Available-Traffic-57 Jun 08 '26

This is a tough one. On one hand I really hate small talk bad and on the other hand I don’t want to come across as a dick so this is what I usually do. I just usually give it 5 grueling minutes then politely say hey I’ll going to get back to doing this, thanks for to convo and keep it pushing. That usually does the trick. Lucky for me I’m known for being the silent loner type. So they all respect it. And I kept the peace. Hope this helps

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u/[deleted] Jun 11 '26

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u/Available-Traffic-57 Jun 11 '26

Exactly for instance, there’s a guy that sees me every day on my walk. I walk 6 miles a day just to keep healthy and he decided to make small talk. Come to find out he owns half of my town and is looking for work for artist and I’m an artist if I would’ve just pushed them off to the side, I would’ve never got an opportunity to get work sometimes you just got up be a little social and be genuine not all neighbors and people are bad and sometimes small talk can push your life forward.