Avoiding obnoxious neighbors or co-workers

[TLM08]

I have a retired neighbor who seems to enjoy telling me how much money and or property he owns. He is very much into self promotion and seems to be his own biggest fan. He also tells a lot of amazing “stories” about his accomplishments that I am highly suspicious of.

I do not like listening to this garbage so I avoid him whenever I have the opportunity. I am also extremely tempted to start pressing him for details so I can politely expose him as one who is *completely *full of &%@#…

Funny thing is, he’s not a bad guy, in fact he’s a pretty decent neighbor aside from his bull****

Any advice?

 

[losh14]

I have a retired neighbor who seems to enjoy telling me how much money and or property he owns. He is very much into self promotion and seems to be his own biggest fan. He also tells a lot of amazing “stories” about his accomplishments that I am highly suspicious of.

The only thing a self-centered person likes to talk about is himself. You can make enemies with your neighbor, or you can have an annoying acquaintance. Not sure which is worse, but if you can at least wave a friendly wave in the mornings when you go to work, your life will be a little more peaceful.

We have a guy at work who has no conversational skills - he will ramble on a completely unconnected topic, even talking over people or in the middle of a meeting. If a conversation drifts naturally, even for a while, he’ll still return to whatever story he was telling when he left off. We try asking him direct questions about other things, but if he doesn’t want to talk about those other things, he returns to the topic in his mind. Eventually, we just avoid him at social events. Shame, but conversations with him are no fun.

 

[wcknight]

Sounds like one of my older brothers Folks like that need attention and are usually very insecure. In my brothers case, he is also prone to become violently angry when confronted or contradicted. We tend to humor him, but only because he is a relative, and contact with him is unavoidable. Funny thing is, he knows he is a chronic liar, and only once in all those years has he ever admitted as much.

It’s tough to deal with folks like that and certainly not much fun to be around them. In a way I feel sorry for them, because they really do have a mental problem. They have an overblown ego and can’t live with their own self worth without constantly inflating their ego. IF your neighbor is like my brother, they tend not to have very many friends. Most people can’t stand them and that only makes their need to be heard or praised even worse.

 

[Catholic1954]

If .that is the worse you can say about him, I would say tht he is worth avoiding.

 

[Newbie2]

I have a retired neighbor who seems to enjoy telling me how much money and or property he owns. He is very much into self promotion and seems to be his own biggest fan. He also tells a lot of amazing “stories” about his accomplishments that I am highly suspicious of.

I do not like listening to this garbage so I avoid him whenever I have the opportunity. I am also extremely tempted to start pressing him for details so I can politely expose him as one who is *completely *full of &%@#…

Funny thing is, he’s not a bad guy, in fact he’s a pretty decent neighbor aside from his bull****

Any advice?

Three pieces of advice:

1. Already given in a previous post, you can have an annoying neighbor or an enemy. Your choice. If you want an enemy, go ahead and **** him off by challenging his stories.
2. If you want an annoying neighbor, when he starts a story, show interest “I’d like to hear about that…” but excuse yourself “…but I have to ___________now.” Several times of this and he may start to get the message.
3. Your reply to his exaggerations, etc. should always be, “Well, good for you”. He’s fishing for a compliment or for some degree of envy. If you show “genuine” goodwill, he may get what he’s looking for and decrease his need for BS.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

I am reminded of a story of the three ladies boasting of the gift their husband gave them on the birth of their first son.

First Lady; My Husband gave me a mink Coat and a Mercedes.
Third Lady: Fantastic

Second Lady: My husband gave me a month’s trip to Europe.
Third Lady: Fantastic

Third Lady: My husband gave me a year at Finishing School.
First two: What is Finishing School
Third Lady: That’s where they teach you to say Fantastic instead of *You are full of **.

So learn to say** FANTASTIC!**

 

[RosaryFan]

I have a retired neighbor who seems to enjoy telling me how much money and or property he owns. He is very much into self promotion and seems to be his own biggest fan. He also tells a lot of amazing “stories” about his accomplishments that I am highly suspicious of.

I do not like listening to this garbage so I avoid him whenever I have the opportunity. I am also extremely tempted to start pressing him for details so I can politely expose him as one who is *completely *full of &%@#…

Funny thing is, he’s not a bad guy, in fact he’s a pretty decent neighbor aside from his bull****

Any advice?

WWJD. Patience, tolerance, charity. If he’s not hurting anyone, let him go on with his stories. You never know what motivates people to pat themselves on the back like that. Maybe he had a life full of criticism. When you get stuck talking to him, take it with a smile and offer it up for Jesus.