Why is Sedaris specific about how about how far he moves away? Why would he say that the move would ''hardly merit tears''?

In the chapter "Us and Them," Sedaris is indeed specific about how far he moves away. He tells us that, when his family first moved to North Carolina, they lived in a rented house three blocks from his new school.
Within a year, the Sedaris family moved again, this time to a house less than a mile away. Sedaris tells us this to support his statement that "the short journey would hardly merit tears or even goodbyes." The move, after all, is barely a mile away.
Now, why does Sedaris say this? On the surface, Sedaris seems to be saying that the short distance isn't enough to keep one from seeing friends from the first location. That is, if one had friends to begin with. However, the next few lines tell us something else.

It was more of a "see you later" situation, but still I adopted my mother's attitude, as it allowed me to pretend that not making friends was a conscious choice. I could if I wanted to. It just wasn't the right time.

The word "pretend" is an interesting one. It tells us that Sedaris may have experienced difficulty fitting into the Southern culture. After all, his entire family is from New York state. As we read, we discover that Sedaris and his family previously lived in a country setting. Now, he lives in an urban setting, and it seems that all his neighbors are a puzzle to him.
Due to his sense of alienation, Sedaris adopts his mother's practical attitude about friendship. It helps him think that he has some control over his new experiences, and that's certainly a very encouraging thought to a young boy.

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