Dealing With Inconsiderate, Irresponsible People

How Do We Live With Problematic Neighbours?

In my opinion, being considerate and responsible are some of the essential factors for being a good neighbour.

I’m sure that almost all of us have experienced living with neighbours who aren’t considerate and/or responsible in their behaviour, actions, and lifestyle choices, towards others around them and the environment.

Whether it’s in the form of being loud, practicing dirty or unhealthy habits, not caring for the cleanliness of the neighbourhood, etc, all of us have probably at some point in our lives, had to live with such type of neighbours.

And it can get pretty annoying and frustrating.

Part of the frustrating thing is, it’s not so easy for some to just directly approach those types of neighbours and convey their grievances to them.

Confrontations Are A Real Possibility

This is due to the legitimate, understandable apprehension that such interactions can get confrontational and somewhat nasty, in which the party in the wrong may respond in a mean way.

This can easily lead to the forming of grudges, and negative, mean interactions, whereby those neighbours deliberately behave in a mean way towards those who conveyed their grievances to them.

In such a potential scenario, this mean behaviour and actions of such neighbours can indeed be regarded as childish, immature, and unreasonable.

But at the same time, unfortunately, such is the nature of people; We can be easily led by our emotions, and not everyone has the ability to master and discipline their minds, such that they are instead, primarily led by common sense and rationality.

Placing Authority In The Hands Of The Residents

One way to overcome such challenges is to try and form a residents’ association in our neighbourhood or residential area and try to bring as many residents in that neighbourhood as possible into this association.

There needs to be consistent interaction and meetings among the members, in order to build rapport and form as close-knit a community as possible.

It’s through such a residents’ association, that action can be taken towards those neighours who aren’t considerate or responsible towards others and the environment.

This can mainly be done through the actions of the central committee or top leadership of the association, whereby they pay a visit to those particular neighbours and request them to cease such negative behaviour and actions.

Failing this, in which those neighbours still stubbornly persist in their inconsiderate and irresponsible actions, the residents’ association can then make a report to the city or the town’s local council authorities to take appropriate action.

This is more suitable because the leaders of these residents’ associations will be in a position of authority and power, and thus are more suited to carry out such actions, compared to the average resident.

A Less Risky, More Discreet Strategy

This I would say, would be a better, safer option than the immediate neighbours of the inconsiderate, irresponsible neighbour, directly complaining to the local authorities themselves.

This is because, even if they stress to the authorities that they don’t want their information to be revealed to that neighbour, some of the officers might accidentally reveal such information.

And this could very well then lead to a grudge and negative interactions between those neighbours.

However, if the neighbour making the complaint lives a certain distance away from the inconsiderate, irresponsible neighbour, then it’s more appropriate for them to make such complaints; there will be fewer chances of reprisals.

Of course, the whole process of forming a residents association first requires the commitment and dedication of a few residents initially, as part of laying the groundwork for such an association.

Different Parts Of Society Have Their Own Important Roles To Play In This Process

Ultimately, such important values of being considerate and responsible, need to be inculcated into people at a young age, from their parents as well as through schools.

Apart from that, the local council authorities need to launch public awareness campaigns and distribute leaflets to the houses in all neighbourhoods, emphasizing the importance of being considerate and responsible neighbours.

One major step that the authorities need to take is to set up a strict complaints/feedback system, and strictly ensure that the information of those making complaints isn’t revealed, possibly even to the officers going to the ground to take action against the particular neighour.

I feel that such a move will surely encourage and embolden much more people to come forward and make complaints to the authorities against inconsiderate and irresponsible neighbours.

Originally published at http://reformthesystem0.wordpress.com.

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