Neighbors and favors.

   / Neighbors and favors. #101  
Out here we help neighbors no matter what. Nobody abuses it and we all know that if you need help all you have to do is ask. They helped dig us out of the snow the first 2 years before I had a tractor. Some of the off grid folks ask me to find parts on the internet occasionally and I"m glad to help. Another neighbor recently borrowed my tractor to do some drainage work on his place. Another brought down his big disc this spring to help us start a garden. I think being in very rural places is different than living in the city. Out here I know everyone who lives for 10+ miles around my place. When I lived in town I didn't even talk to many of my neighbors and would never have considered asking them for help. When I first moved out here one of the neighbors asked me to come help do some saw work as his just broke down and he needed to get a combine through an area with a few trees. That same neighbor built a 2 acre shelter belt across the road from my house to help with my snow drifting and recently brought his bailer down to see if it would bale pine shavings. We also just got a free puppy from my other neighbor who I helped build a deer blind. Amazing when I look back at how much my neighbors have helped me. Dont' know where I'd be without them.
 
   / Neighbors and favors. #102  
Out here we help neighbors no matter what. Nobody abuses it and we all know that if you need help all you have to do is ask...

...I think being in very rural places is different than living in the city. Out here I know everyone who lives for 10+ miles around my place. When I lived in town I didn't even talk to many of my neighbors and would never have considered asking them for help.


...

You are very correct and living in the country is different than living closer to the city. A rural person in a rural environment and dependent on their own ingenuity to make a living is a far cry from an opportunist-seeking suburbian eyeing my assets. While I would avoid many a suburb request, rural people depend on each other to survive and I would support that 100%
 
   / Neighbors and favors. #103  
He told me to piss off and handed me a beer.

Too bad everyone is not like him I guess. :thumbsup: :)

I've got a neighbour like that. Only my guy is a little more forceful. He tells me to do something about "sex and travel" as he hands me the beer. :cool2:
 
   / Neighbors and favors. #104  
I help my neighbors; they help me, and money is never exchanged. When someone tries hard to pay me I tell them they can't get off that cheap. I've always been a big fan of the favor system. I'll do someone a favor, and maybe years later that person repays it when least expected..
It never hurts to be a "good guy".
 
   / Neighbors and favors. #105  
There's a difference between accepting money, goods (fuel, eggs, pie, wood, etc) or a future "favor" and just someone that wants to use you and your equipment without any intention of reciprocity, often lying to you in the process. In the first scenario, all is well, in the second, all is wrong. As many can attest, "no good deed goes unpunished", especially when a favor on your part becomes an expectation on theirs.
 
   / Neighbors and favors. #106  
I think that is something about called " Education "
Even if you try to help a neighbor he should pay at least the fuel, I understand the part with helping but also he shold contribuite with something at least that equipment needs something inside to move it
:)
But always family and neighbors they are waiting most of the services for free!
 
   / Neighbors and favors. #107  
Some of you are very fortunate to be surrounded by capable neighbors that have the physical ability to reciprocate. I have few of those types near me. The ones who are like that I will help anytime and they do the same for me. However, I have a disproportionate number of people without skills, strength or any physical ability around me. They will never come to my aid in an emergency. But I will come to theirs frequently. From these people I do accept reimbursement for operating costs and tips. Otherwise I would have been paying the cost in both time and money to be at the beck and call of 6 families for the past 10 years. And that just isn't right!!

For the most part my neighbors are good people. Just few with any capabilities.
 
   / Neighbors and favors. #108  
You are very correct and living in the country is different than living closer to the city. A rural person in a rural environment and dependent on their own ingenuity to make a living is a far cry from an opportunist-seeking suburbian eyeing my assets. While I would avoid many a suburb request, rural people depend on each other to survive and I would support that 100%

I agree. Here in Toronto, no one really asks for help much, nor offers it, but rarely is there an obvious need. Everyone is always rushing from here to there, or sitting in traffic! (Actually, the most common "help" I get is when someone lets me in line when I want to change lanes in traffic. And, perhaps surprisingly, Torontonians are generally pretty good about it!)

In the country, however, up at the cottage, helping out a neighbour is the norm, whether it is a snowmobiler helping an ATVer (me) get unstuck in the snow/slush on the lake, or a tractor owner (me) helping that same neighbour unload his new standby generator from his trailer. Again, my policy is to always try to give more than I get, but without going overboard and making the neighbour feel indebted to you (which can ironically sometimes lead to resentment). It just makes for a better atmosphere up there.
 
   / Neighbors and favors. #109  
Some of you are very fortunate to be surrounded by capable neighbors that have the physical ability to reciprocate. I have few of those types near me. The ones who are like that I will help anytime and they do the same for me. However, I have a disproportionate number of people without skills, strength or any physical ability around me. They will never come to my aid in an emergency. But I will come to theirs frequently. From these people I do accept reimbursement for operating costs and tips. Otherwise I would have been paying the cost in both time and money to be at the beck and call of 6 families for the past 10 years. And that just isn't right!!

For the most part my neighbors are good people. Just few with any capabilities.

Another issue that must be managed is differences in "wealth". For some, paying them $200 to help you out with something is a big deal, and much appreciated. For others, it is almost an insult.
 
   / Neighbors and favors. #110  
For years I plowed the road each winter, 2.5 miles and did all 12 driveways.

I had fun and could afford it, plus I had the tractor and equipment to do it. Need to get out of my house to go to work as well as the other half. So a little extra was just playing and being nice to my neighbors.

I figured it was paying it forward and it would come back to me in time.

Each year at the end of the year one by one the neighbors would stop by and drop something off from home made good to gift cards for fuel. The Neighbors that spent the time to actually bake something I appreciated the most as they put time and thought into thanking me.

The point is, I do not ask for payment other than a thank you. You need a hand I will give a hand. sometimes a hand shake and a smile is worth more than gold.
 

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