NY resolution no. 6: Avoid neighbours

New Year Resolution No. 6 in our world-famous HETLoR (2025 Honest ET List of Resolutions): don't love thy neighbour. In fact, avoid them like spam. Banish the 'Good morning!' lot pretending to be startup incubator while they 'morning walk'. Enough of those unsolicited stock advice that could have been casserole deliveries. Why? Because neighbourly greetings are the most sinister form of small talk. They are Trojan horses of faux cheer, smuggling in weather commentary and passive-aggressive remarks about your investment habits. One 'Happy New Year!' at the gate, and suddenly you're trapped in a 45-min symposium on AI's untapped potential to make chapati.

Being a Grinch year-round is not cruelty, it's efficiency. Save time and energy by not nodding at Mr Krishnaswamy while he narrates his plan to use Fava beans as fuel. Carry earpods - you never know when Mrs Varma will be walking past you - and then turning to chat. By extending the Grinch philosophy beyond December 25, you're not rejecting humanity but upgrading it. So, this end of the year, resolve to perfect the art of the curt nod, strategic hedge-trim that blocks sight lines, and the glorious invention of noise-cancelling curtains to make 2026 pestilence-free. Let others chase connection and networks. You can chase peace. And when the neighbours knock, you'll be happily unavailable.