Hello good people, the flat above me is being re-let by my Housing Association and I’d like to welcome my new neighbour.
At the moment contractors are busy re-decorating and updating Bathroom and Kitchen.
My question is what could I leave her or him that would make them welcome?
First choice would have been a good bottle of wine and some basic household stuff but this is the London borough of Brent and a very mixed and diverse society, don’t want to tread on anyone’s feet.
Advice welcome.
Peter
How about a basket of scones and a selection of carry out menus from nearby establishments. Making food is hard whilst the cooking gear and utensils are still lost in unpacked boxes.
When I moved into my house (many years ago now), one of the most appreciated gifts was a set of menus to local restaurants, along with notes attached to them giving my neighbors personal evaluations of them, which had large or small portions, which ones were fast or slow on delivery, which were overly busy and crowded on weekends, etc. Those notes were the most useful part of the gift!
Now, I suppose you could find similar notes online in Yelp or something, but none of that ws available back then. Plus the fact that they came from nearby neighbors was very helpful. They even included a few coupons.
When my neighbor moved in, I entertained the idea of getting her a gift certificate/pre-paid thingie to the local pizza delivery. On the thought that no one moving in either wants to or has time to cook, so have 'em bring me food. I didn’t end up doing it, but I did think about it!
Menus and other information about the area would be a nice thought.
A plateful of homemade baked goodies, and/or a hard-to-kill houseplant, would also be appreciated.
A casserole, under the same logic that they won’t want to be bothered with real cooking for a day or two.
Obviously the food choices might not go over perfectly well if there are dietary concerns (allergy, cultural etc.), but as long as it’s not, say, pork and they’re Muslim / Jewish, they’d at least appreciate the effort.
I would go with a bottle of wine. We’ve got a family member with a very bad egg allergy, so no matter what you got us, odds are pretty good we’d have to dump it. At least a bottle can be regifted. Religious restrictions apply.
You could try doing something to help him out. Like if you know he’s having problems sleeping because you hear him turn over in his bed, turn up your radio loudly so he has something to listen to.
I dunno, go up there with a big plate of sausage rolls, and invite him to your 'Til Death Us Do Part marathon. Because it wasn’t racist, you see, it was a satire on racism.
You can show him your collection of Nazi memorabilia, ask him if he has Halloween in his culture. Shake him vigorously by the left hand.
Er, I’ve run out of things. I’m trying to think of things you shouldn’t do, in such a way that it’s not offensive. What do Jewish people not like? Is there a website somewhere, Things that Jewish People Don’t Like? Stuffed animals, Chanel No 5, I dunno.
Oh, according to the internet Jewish people don’t like pork as well. So how come they don’t get on with Muslims? They have some common ground there. Can’t they start up pig-hating clubs, where they meet and drink beer and hate pigs TOGETHER?
Non-alcoholic beer. They’d have to find a drink that everybody can drink. And hate pigs. I’ll get my coat.
A quick google search found on this websitethe following quote:
*Brent is a densely populated multi-cultural, outer-london borough which has the highest number of people from different backgrounds in England. It is one of only two areas in the country where the majority of the population are from a Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) background. *
So I suppose the comments by Ashley Pomeroy were a humorous dig on this fact.
Though its a nice gesture, virtually nobody actually wants a housewarming plant from close friend/relative, much less a new neighbor.
Get or make a nice welcome here card, throw a few bucks in there and some local menus from various close to eat places or delivery places. If they aren’t picky as hell they will order something to eat from somewhere and be thankful. If they are of Jewish Muslim Indian Vegetarian decent they can take the cash, go the local hardware store and buy eco lightbulb that will save the planet.