No one rejected them! Although I can’t confirm whether everyone ate them lol. None of my neighbors reciprocate with baked goods, so can’t comment on that, but I am satisfied with the trade even just for good will for me and my barky dog.
But I can confirm that I have baked for years, and have passed out enough goods around the building that no one has cause to mistrust me. I definitely wouldn’t have gone this route if I wasn’t a competent baker.
Personally I love to bake, so when I first moved into my current apartment I made a bunch of small coffee cakes and just cold knocked on the doors of all my neighbors one evening. Some folks weren’t home, but for the people I did meet it broke the ice and set us up to chat more when we ran into each other in the hall. And I was lucky enough to even make 3 good friends who I trade pet/plant care and favors with!
This exercise also quickly identified some people that I would not be friends with and that was valuable too.
I actually have a related question that I’m curious to hear takes on. I’m a leftist, and I own a 1-bed apartment where two good friends of mine rent the apartment right next door. Their landlord is planning to sell next year, and they don’t have the ability to buy it. So depending on who does buy the place, my friends could be out of a home. My sister and I could combine finances to buy their unit (with a mortgage), and ensure that my friends could stay where they are. This would be a bit of a financial burden but doable, and we would need to charge rent to pay back the mortgage.
Would this be a net good or a net evil? I feel very conflicted about potentially being a landlord (especially for friends) but also don’t want them to need to move.
On the other hand, I would rather have a job that continues to be needed than no job at all. I think I’d prefer having some resources to help myself and my loved ones during the societal collapse.