Whether you just moved, your neighbors just moved or you’ve all been living next to each other without talking for years, you don’t always know your neighbors. Especially since COVID, getting to know the people around you has proven to be difficult. So if you’re looking to play Santa in your neighborhood, but you have literally no idea what’s on people’s wishlists, it’s natural to wonder what to get a neighbor you don’t know that well.
Around the same time each year, it happens: The nice people of your neighborhood bring each other baked goods and six-packs, even though half of them don’t drink and the other half have dietary restrictions they don’t really talk about. While you could hop on the alcohol and cookies train, you want to get them something totally user-friendly, like a nice container of pink salt or a tiny succulent they’d have to work to kill.
When shopping for a neighbor you don’t really know, the goal is to find something generous but still general. Rather than a fully-cooked meal that may have certain ingredients they can’t eat or a piece of home decor that totally does not fit their style, you want things they can use, enjoy, then promptly get rid of, like dairy-free hot cocoa mix or a gas gift card. These are gifts that say, “I see you leave for work every day, but could not tell you what your job is. Nevertheless, I wish you well this winter.”
In the spirit of being a good neighbor, I rounded up the best little gifts to give the people that live around you that you don’t really know that well. Consider it my present to you.
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