Dear Karen,
I have lived in my neighbourhood for two years and am very friendly with all the neighbours, as work from home so see them all the time. However, they only know my dog’s name and I only know their children’s names, and that’s in a few special cases. It feels almost silly to ask their names at this point, as I must cross paths with them twice a day. I was almost considering lifting their mail to end this ridiculousness once and for all – but I suppose that is illegal. What’s a friendly neighbour to do? I would like to switch the formality from “HI ROCKY’S MOM” to “HI JEN!”

xo

Absolutely – go lift their mail! In fact, for discretion’s sake, take a furtive approach and find some kid on your street and pay them to do it for you.

Truthfully, I’m in the same boat with some folks on my street. Four years later, there are probably a dozen people that address me by name. I can remember a paltry four (five, max), of their names. In fact, of those names I claim to “remember”, I have to keep them written down on a chalkboard in my kitchen, with arrows pointing to where they live, in relation to said chalkboard. How tragic. Note to self: wipe chalkboard before inviting any of them around for tea.

I don’t think you can be slick about this. You have to humbly fall on your sword and admit you don’t know their names. You can open it up with a pithy introduction, assuming your neighbours are friendly enough/cool enough/have some inkling of humour. Check out Hi Have We Met for some starters, but plan to go old-school on this one. Bring over something from your kitchen (baked goods?), your garden (start a new plant from one of your’s?) and shake their hand. Admit your embarrassment, but also your enthusiasm about meeting them formally.

Once you’ve made proper introductions, race at breakneck speed to find a chalkboard at once, and record their name and location…at least it works for me.