Whatever happened to the Good Neighbor Policy?

Alright, I'll assume there is no such policy. I suppose really it's a state of mind. A code that one lives by. Certainly something I was raised to respect: if my neighbor wrongs me - and I'm referring very literally to my next door neighbor - I should approach them on a personal level, face to face, and do my best to mend the situation, best foot forward. Simply because we are neighbors. We are co-inhabitors of a relatively small space in this world. We cross paths on a daily basis. We are NEIGHBORS. This is all the more important when you live, such as I do, in a townhouse complex. there are no fences to separate our lives; we share the same strip of grass in the back of our homes. We can almost see each other sitting on our respective decks if it weren't for the hideous cedar bushes masquerading as some sort of privacy assurance.

So why - why why why - would someone forego the 3 minutes it takes for a little face time and opt instead to head inside, pull out a pen and paper or perhaps sit in front of a computer, and jot something down to the higher authorities in the form of a complaint? What fears are present in this persons life? What deeply rooted insecurities do they suffer from that they must avoid speaking to their neighbor in a respectful, mature way? What arrogance and ego. Speculative, of course.

I don't get it. There are some neighbors I would rather not talk to and if I never saw them again it wouldn't change my life one bit. But you're dead wrong if you think I'm not going to knock on their door and say, "Can we discuss this for a moment?"

Yes, I do understand there are rules and guidelines, codes of conduct and preferred methods of interaction, and I suppose when you it comes down to the brass knuckled tacks of the thing, I can't fault someone for wanting to follow the letter. But doing so instead of keeping or making peace? Really? that I don't understand.