The Greenhouse of Avoidance

What's the strangest thing you've done to avoid small talk with a neighbor? I built a fake greenhouse

just to dodge conversations with my neighbor Ted. When he first moved in,

I thought he seemed nice enough. But then I got trapped in a three hour discussion about

spice cabinet organization, and I knew I had to do something drastic. Ted had this pattern.

He only approached me when I was clearly doing nothing in my yard. So I came up with

a plan. I ordered a greenhouse kit online, not because I wanted to grow anything,

but purely as a prop. Whenever I saw Ted heading outside, I'd grab my tools

and pretend to be deep in construction mode. For six months, I kept this charade