I want to be neighborly...

...but is that possible in LA?
Yesterday at work we had a long discussion about neighbors. My friend just moved into an apartment and immediately went around and met all of her neighbors in the building. Introduced herself in the parking garage, knocked on the door across the hall, asked the big buff guy to help move a bookshelf....you get the picture. But she's that kind of girl. I (I fear) am certainly not. But it's not because I don't want to know my neighbors. It's just because it's awkward. My co-workers were giving me grief because I still haven't meet a single neighbor. But, what the hell? I'm the new person. They are supposed to come to me. I shouldn't be knocking on doors. The shitty thing is, I wish I just ran into people on the street. But a) I work 14 hours a day, b) I don't have a dog to walk, and c) I don't have a baby to push in a stroller. Add to that the fact that our driveway is on the corner and when you park and walk to the front door you can't see any house to either side, and you've got a problem.

I was resigned to never meet any neighbors when last night I came home to a gift bag. Inside were homemade cookies and a note that said 'welcome to the neighborhood'. It was from a family half way down the block and it was extremely nice. Now, of course I want to meet them and not be rude, but what do you do when you get home at 10pm and are going out of town for the weekend? I don't know the etiquette. John's idea of making more baked goods and leaving them for the family seems a little too 'bake-off-y". Maybe just leave a note on the door one night? I don't want to scare anyone by sneaking something onto the porch in the middle of the night. That would be weird. Sigh. I am destined to a life of suburban loneliness.