Helping neighbors can be kind, but boundaries still matter.

The following story is about a woman who started assisting her older neighbor after his knee surgery.

However, he quickly began expecting daily help from her.

What began as occasional support turned into regular calls, long visits, and pressure to always be available.

Do you think his expectations were reasonable? Let’s take a closer look!

AITA for not wanting to help my older neighbor or answer his phone calls?

I am 40F. My neighbor is in his 70s.

He is generally a nice guy. We are on good terms.

We live in a small apartment house.

All the neighbors are acquainted with each other.

We are not super close. My apartment is right next to his.

This woman initially helped her neighbor change his ice packs.

He had knee surgery a week ago. He has been calling me to come change his ice packs.

He cannot get up and around easily. At first, I wanted to be helpful.

He now expects me to come over every day after I get home from work.

He also expects this on weekends.

I also have to hang around for 15 to 20 minutes, and make small talk until I put the ice pack back in his freezer.

Now, she doesn’t feel comfortable being his emergency contact person.

Sometimes, when he calls my phone, I do not pick up. I do not want to deal with it.

He knows I am home because my car is in the parking lot.

He also says that I am his “emergency back-up.”

I do not feel comfortable being on-call for someone who is not a close friend or relative.

She wants to completely stop helping him.

AITA if I just stop helping him? I do not want to make things awkward.

I feel like this task is not something you should be relying on neighbors for.

Like I said, we are not close. We are more like acquaintances.

He has other neighbors helping him, too.

So am I a bad person for not wanting to help him?

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Some people can easily take advantage of another person’s kindness.

Just because she helped once doesn’t mean he can call her every single time.

The woman also has a life, you know? Let’s check out other people’s comments.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about neighbors who can’t get along because of a totally legal gate.

This user shares their personal thoughts.

Here’s a sound suggestion from this one.

This person gives their honest opinion.

Short and simple.

Finally, you need to set boundaries, says this one.

Being neighborly doesn’t mean signing up for a full-time job with no days off.