I Wish More People Would Knock On My Door

22nd March 2026

I want more people to knock on my door. A knock on the door represents a kind of life we've lost: one where human contact was built-in to the ordinary.

It used to feel normal, at least culturally, for people to drop by, borrow something, interrupt each other, and be casually present in one another's lives. Now, even seeing someone who lives less than ten minutes away can require planning two weeks in advance.

Maybe the world has become too convenient. We no longer need to ask our neighbours for milk because milk is always available. We no longer need to turn up at someone's house because we can text first, schedule precisely, and avoid inconvenience altogether. But that convenience may have removed more than friction. It may have removed the small, natural reasons people once had to rely on each other.

And perhaps that changes us. People didn't just magically know how to talk to each other twenty years ago, they just had more practice. More casual conversations, more unscripted encounters, more moments where they had to navigate another person in real time. Today, even a simple knock on a neighbour's door can feel awkward, not because it is wrong, but because it has become unfamiliar, and borderline societally unaccpetable.

I think we're supposed to be around other people. I believe it heals us. Social life should not be something we're forced to manufacture separately from “real life”, as if friendship and community are extracurricular activities. We should build lives that other people are part of.

TL;DR

Small casual interactions used to happen more naturally.

The internet has taken us from 10 friends, to 10,000 "friends".

Convenience reduces dependence, and dependence used to create connection.

In making life more convenient, we may also have made it more isolating.