It's a big moment in someone's life when they move out of their parent's house, but all because they are no longer living with mum and dad that doesn't necessarily mean that they're living alone. No matter where we live (unless it's off-grid somewhere) we will, most likely, have neighbors next to, above, or below us, and we need to learn to co-exist with them. Let's take a brief look at a few of the crazy stories that people have shared about their neighbors and gauge how we might have reacted in the same situations.
"Don't Stoop To Their Level"
"...My Neighbors and I would bang on the door, but they would never open it. It was like trying to sleep at a festival...Then at some point I found out they often left for the bar across the street but would just leave the music on, so I would pull the breaker for their apartment, but they would just come back at 5 a.m. and turn it back on..." - u/time_to_reset
If a neighbour is not answering their door, instead of harassing them back, try leaving a note under the door that lets them know the police will be notified if the volume is not turned down at night.
"What A Dump! "
"We had some neighbors that used to leave their garbage out in plastic bags the night before garbage day - instead of putting it in a bin. Around here, that's just ringing the dinner bell for raccoons and other critters. Sure enough, come morning there's garbage strewn all over the neighborhood...Some of the people on the street kindly approached the guy and asked him to put his garbage in a bin..." - u/kor_hookmaster
In this case, asking nicely didn't work, so the other people on the street moved the garbage onto the neighbour's lawn. He repaid the favour by putting the trash into their mailboxes. What a nightmare!
"Who Does That? "
This next horrible neighbour story is evidence that some people might not have souls... "When I was younger, our front neighbors stole our dog from our backyard one day, and we didn't find out it was them until a few months later, when we saw our dog in their yard...They denied they stole it and wouldn't give it back to us until we got the police involved" - Duhveed6
Stealing someone's dog is insane, but stealing your neighbour's dog, and telling them it wasn't theirs, now, that's just bats**t crazy. We can only hope that a restraining order has been put in place for the dog's protection.
"I've Got To Be Up In 3 Hours For Work. Are You Out Of Your Mind? "
Some neighbors don't quite seem to understand that they are living amongst other people. They treat the world as though it's their own personal playground, and they treat people as though their opinions don't matter. Having guests late into the evening is fine, but when there's a complaint from one of the other neighbors in the building, it would be nice if they'd do their part to help everyone live in harmony.
If it seems as though the neighbor is, actually, listening to the complaint and taking it to heart, that's one thing. But when they act as though they're the victim in the situation, sometimes, there's no other option than to call the fuzz.
"Who Left The Fog Machine On? "
"I used to live in a house that was split into two apartments. My Neighbors had the lower half and I learned we had issues with the HVAC when their cigarette smoke came visibly pouring out our registers; stank up everything we owned. Then one of them stole my car." u/Smooth-Revolution958
The neighbour's smoking seems inconsequential compared to the stolen car. They, probably, should have started with that, and ended with a phone call to the police.
"Special Delivery"
"I had a package go missing (a phone case). Amazon had posted a photo of it at my door, so I thought that it was just a fluke. Then it happened again, and again, and again...Fast-forward a few weeks, and I come home after being gone for less than an hour to see that my doorknob and front door was scraped up, and the knob was barely hanging on..." u/Ladyringo
After the second or, at most, the third time that a package goes missing, do the smart thing and install a security camera. If the camera doesn't deter the thief, it will, at least, help to identify them.
"There Are Lines That Have Been Crossed"
"The worst was at night when the two of them would have loud sex (which is how I figured out they weren't related). Every night for an hour: Creaking bed banging against my bedroom wall...whenever I came home or went out, even when I took out the garbage, he would be there outside his place, trying to chitchat with me while staring at my body and being completely gross." - u/Thin_Host
Perhaps, he doesn't know he's making anyone uncomfortable. A simple conversation to educate him on the inappropriateness of his lude behaviour should do the trick. If not, a harassment charge would look great on his resume.
"Time To Move"
"...at about 3 a.m....there's a man standing barefoot in a sleeveless shirt on our porch, POUNDING on our front door...my wife now immediately calls the police...At this point our neighbors directly behind us throw a huge spotlight into our backyard from their...It turns out that the spotlight neighbor was the one on our porch; he had jumped our fence into our backyard and up into his yard and then threw the light on." - u/NoWayThisIsTaken
There are weird neighbours, and then there are neighbours who have a few screws loose. This one is missing all the screws, and then some.
"Dripping WIth Rage"
"Apartment building - the upstairs neighbor's dog peed on their patio, and it dripped down onto me while I was sitting outside reading. I yelled and ran to shower, and when I texted them to ask them to take their dog out to pee in future, they said it wasn't their dog, and it must have blown over from somewhere else..." - u/ClubWithAJungleTheme
Going upstairs to speak to the neighbour, instead of texting, would have been a better way of handling this. And if they still deny it, it's nothing a doggy DNA test couldn't prove.
"Not All Good Deeds Are Taken As Such"
"...His mom said no cats inside, so he would feed the kitten outside. She was pretty wild. He left for school again in the fall, and we noticed that the cat was getting very thin. We started feeding her outside in her usual spot. Around Christmas, we bought a bag of cat food, and I made a plate of cookies and left them both at our neighbor's front door...The next day they were both back on our porch." u/ LePointlessPorcupine
A visit to the neighbour's house to discuss the well-being of the feline would have, probably, gone over much better than the passive-aggressive actions. If that doesn't work, the Humane Society would be happy to send someone over.
"His Way Or The Cryway"
As children, most people are faced with the dilemma of playing with other children whom, for one reason or another, they don't want to interact with. This next person might have a good reason for trying to avoid contact with their neighbor when they were kids. "A kid would come put his face against the windows and make us play tag, but if we weren't terrible at it he'd cry about it." - u/DontShowMomMemes
Every child has a different set of needs and, clearly, this neighbour had a few issues that needed to be catered to. If they didn't want to play by his rules, they shouldn't have played at all.
"Smile, You're On The Building's Camera"
In today's world, there are many reasons why someone might choose to take a package that does not belong to them. Whatever someone's reason might be, when given the opportunity to make things right, most theft victims will choose to believe that the assailant will rectify their actions. The sad truth of the matter is, however, it's only through the threat of being found out that most people "choose" the righteous path.
Giving a package thief a chance to return what they've taken is a great gesture, but, sadly, many people will look at this as a trap, and not as a chance to make things right.
"Don't Get Angry, Get Even"
"We had dogs and a fenced-in yard in the suburbs. One day the dogs were left outside and barked too long. Janet filed a noise complaint...the cops must have told Janet she had to stop calling them, so she started calling animal control instead...They told her (my mum) that as long as the calls happened, they had to at least come out." u/mister_sleepy
Sometimes the best payback that one can get is by placing a flamboyance of flamingos on their own lawn that is staring, intimidatingly, at the unruly neighbour's front door.
"Shakin' All Over"
A noisy neighbor is worse than almost any other type of neighbor whom one can have. We're not just talking about watching their television on a high volume here, we're talking about a massive sound system that has the ability to shake the building to its core. And, of course, they don't give a damn about the sleeping (or working) habits of anyone else around.
When it comes to most unruly neighbours, the only thing they understand is a visit from the police and, in some cases, a court order to cease and desist.
"All Aboard! "
"Linda would often have men she locked outside the apartment building screaming her name. But the best story regards a boyfriend who Linda had insisted my roommate and I call, 'The Captain'...About a week after meeting him, we came home to a wedding announcement...Exactly one week later still, The Captain was arrested outside our apartment building for public intoxication at 2 a.m. while screaming, 'I've made a huge mistake." - u/katartsis
Some neighbours, as crazy as they might be, provide more entertainment for us than anything else. As long as Linda's conquests don't harm anyone else's property, they may as well pop some corn and enjoy the show.
"Like What Ya See? "
"...He told the police that several nights prior, I had let my puppy out into MY OWN backyard in the middle of the night and because I was in my boxers, That I was trying to expose myself to his family...He then followed this up to the police with the 'evidence', which consisted of videos he had taken THROUGH OUR WINDOWS of my wife and I inside of our own home doing totally normal things like chores, watching TV, etc." u/NoWayThisIsTaken
After something like this happens, a restraining order and a change of address are, surely, imminent. It would be impossible to continue living next to those neighbours after finding out they've been filming the family.
"Balcony Etiquette"
"Trina, our downstairs neighbor, lost it when my mom washed the patio for the first time - Trina promptly started screaming about killing my mom for doing this. She started to burn small fires in a coffee can under our windows in an attempt to smoke us out. She once saw my bedroom window was left open and literally flooded my room with her hose." -u/ambersavampire
Not that there is any excuse for the neighbor's actions, but since they were living in the apartment above her, the person's mum should have given forwarning that she was going to hose down the balcony.
"Hop To It! "
When you're planning on adding a pet to the family, not all neighbors are going to be thrilled with the one you choose. "When I was seven, our next-door neighbor came pounding on our front door to scream at and threaten to kill my dad because our pet that we kept in our backyard was being too loud. The pet was a rabbit. A rabbit." - u/gofemar
In situations like this, one shouldn't be too quick to judge. Perhaps, the neighbor had a traumatic experience with an adorable, floppy-eared, button-tailed bunny when they were younger. Or, perhaps, they just hate cute things.
"It Puts The Lotion On Its Skin"
"...One day a cop knocked on the door; he was holding about 20 pairs of women's underwear and asked me to pick out mine...the downstairs neighbor had been wearing them because he was stealing them out of the laundry room...they arrested him for stealing our underwear...When he got out of jail, he was so pissed he was getting evicted he went and bought a bunch of sand and covered the whole apartment in sand..." - u/truisluv
One would think it would be fairly straightforward that stealing other tenants' underwear would be grounds for eviction. On the plus side, due to all the sand, the party committee got a head start on the building's beach-themed party.
"If At First You Fail, Try, Try, Again (Until The Law Gets Involved)"
No one enjoys having someone else's beliefs pushed on them, and these next neighbors, eventually, found that out... "Very religious neighbor came to pick us up for church every Sunday morning. We Kindly declined every time, never made a big deal out of it. Sold the house, the new owners got a judge to issue a no-contact order, the overly religious neighbors were not even allowed to walk by the house anymore." - u/schilpr
A no-contact order is a big step, but things might have been a bit different if the neighbours would have given an open invitation the first time, and then just left it alone after that.
"Feeling Lucky? "
Living in an apartment building can lead to unwanted arguments with neighbors. Some people are very particular about where they feel comfortable having things stored. 3 friends, who were living together in a rooftop apartment, got a visit, one day, from the old man in the apartment next door. Apparently, he wasn't too pleased that they were keeping their own furniture on their part of the roof, and he decided to bring his revolver along with him to have a discussion with the lads.
There should be no second chances for someone like that. If someone knocks on their neighbour's door with a gun in hand, the police should be called as soon as that door is closed.
"A Taste Of Their Own Medicine"
Sadly, some people live on their own side of reality, where they believe that the world is out to get them and that everyone owes them everything. Sometimes, as in the case of our next set of neighbours, there's just no use trying to argue otherwise. "Neighbour took me to court and tried to sue me for $24,000 because my dog growled at her and caused her emotional distress. Didn't get very far in court." - u/mandolinwars
The only logical solution that one can come to here would be to counter-sue her for the emotional stress that she's just caused. See how she likes it.
"Hands Off! "
"When I was a little girl, like 10, I had this grown neighbor that spanked me every time I saw him when I was playing outside. Just one swift slap, like, daily. It was obviously only when my parents weren't around, but it was incredibly inappropriate. So maybe not creepy so much as pedophile-y, but still..." - u/SoSheSays28
A child's safety should be the #1 priority. Parents, remember to teach your children about the "no-touch zones", and let them know that they should tell you about these things when they happen.
"One Time Is Too Many Times"
"I lived in an apartment building and would hear weird scratching at my door like someone was trying to get in at night. Then someone knocked at my door...He would show up wearing nothing but an open bathrobe and wanted to "just talk"...I actually called the cops the second time he knocked and gave them the whole story...After calling the cops he stopped coming by." - u/DaughterEarth
When the person at the door is not picking up on the distressed social cues that are being put out there, sadly, the only thing left to do is get the proper authorities involved.
"All The Signs Were There"
"A bunch of old folks moved out and some new neighbours came in. They met us once to ask permission for barbecuing. That was literally the only time I saw them...They were never at the local shops and when they moved in we saw they had like 15 mattresses for a 4 bed house which raised some red flags but we didn't think much of it because they were quiet. Turns out they were running a brothel in there." - u/cpl1
There's no way of knowing for certain what our neighbours are up to, or who they really are. All we can do is be as cordial to everyone as possible, and hope that they reciprocate the gesture.
"Mrs. Greenthumb"
"My neighbour came into my backyard when she thought we (university students) had gone home for the summer...I chalked it up to her looking for her cat...I went back to reading my book and completely forgot about her until I saw movement out of the corner of my eye some while later. She was walking out of my back yard with all our plants." - u/Vandww
If they would have gone over to see if she needed help finding her cat, she would have known they were home, and this whole situation could have been avoided.
"Not Everything Is As It Seems"
"Growing up there was a middle-aged lady, lived across the road, with her young daughter. Every day I'd see her walk down the road carrying two large laundry bags, and later return with them...Years later my mum told me the lady had been a refugee from nazi Germany. She was terrified she'd leave the house and the Nazis would raid it when she was out. So she carried all of her clothes with her. Always. Everywhere." - u/mozgw4
If the old man from "Home Alone" taught us anything, not all neighbours are as scary or as weird as they seem. Everyone has a story, and some people are just trying to live their lives one day at a time.
"Maybe He's Stretching? "
"A guy named Sibbald. He straight up smelled like tuna all the time. He'd come to knock on our door to ask for random things in his robe - a rubber band, an apple slicer, a door stop. Like probably once a week. My bedroom door faced his kitchen and sometimes I'd look over and see him laying on the floor. It was bizarre." - u/doctorbeansprout
It sounds as though this neighbour, although quite odd, has a few weird habits but is completely harmless otherwise. Perhaps, he's lonely and just looking for a reason to talk to someone.
"A Bit Of Perspective"
"There is a cracked-out middle-aged woman who is yelling at her upstairs neighbor for stealing her raccoon. The Raccoon was on the upstairs neighbor's balcony so to get it back she constructed this ramshackle stairway of garbage...She managed to get to the top of the garbage mountain and somehow thought she could trap the raccoon with a hula hoop (????)...fight ensued with the upstairs neighbor biting the crackhead. Police were called. The raccoon was never seen again." - u/mandolinwars
The poor raccoon must think that humans are all savage disgusting creatures that live in garbage and bite each other. It's funny, isn't that what most people think of raccoons?
"You Don't Have To Go Home, But You Can't Stay Here"
Living in an apartment building comes with an unwritten set of rules or building etiquette. One of these rules is to create a harmonic living space for everyone in the complex. Without fail, there is always one of the building's tenants who makes life less than simple for everyone else. In some cases, much to the chagrin of the others in the building, some tenants rent their apartments out as "party-pads".
In other words, random people will be wondering around the building complex making a mess in the stairwell and breaking the elevator, and they won't care because it's not their place.
"Doing Things Old School"
As we grow older, one of the things that we learn very quickly is that everyone has their own ways of doing things, and as long as no one gets hurt, who are we to pass judgment? "Old guy that lived next door when I was young, would shower in the backyard, would buy goats to do his lawn, eventually he stopped buying goats and would just set the lawn on fire..." - u/kingofcrob
There's nothing wrong with going back to the basics. The aboriginal Australians have been using controlled fires to help with landscaping for thousands of years, and grazing animals have been working in the industry since they learned to eat solid foods.
"Third Time's The Charm"
"When we moved in, he came over to tell us the house had previously burned down twice (news to us). Then a few years later after leaving our garage door open, we found our stored grill with all the unlit burners on and a bit of burnt paper sitting underneath...He's since disappeared (moved or dead, IDK), but we lock up our propane now." u/ComanderBubblz
When meeting new neighbours first impressions are everything. The things they choose to discuss in that first interaction are, usually, quite telling as to what type of person they are. Talking about the house burning down twice should have been a red flag.
"That Did Not Go Quite As Expected"
Part of living in an apartment complex is creating a sense of family and community amongst those in the building. When a 24-year-old man thought it would be a good ice-breaker to lower a 10-foot-wide pizza sign down over his balcony, using a garden hose, to the balcony below, things did not go as he had hoped they would. Instead of finding it amusing, the neighbor got ahold of the building supervisor.
A practical joke is only a joke if all parties involved are able to laugh about it later. In this case, the perpetrator of the stunt misjudged the "victim's" response but was truly apologetic. Both sides let bygones be bygones.
"Well, That Was Unexpected"
"My old neighbour was perfect, quiet and always had a nice chat when we met outside our flats...Then (one day) he stabbed the s**t of two guys that came to his door. The hallway was covered in blood. It was crazy. Still, after he got sent to prison a new guy moved in that played music constantly as loud as he possibly could. I'll take ol' stabby back any day." - u/moaningpilot
This just goes to show the value that some people have placed on living somewhere quiet where they're able to get a good night's sleep.
"How You Doin'? "
"I used to work a lot from home, and in the place I was staying back then, my neighbor used to go out for a run, take a shower and get dressed at her window right across from me every weekday at exactly the same time. I started opening my window to make it more obvious I was sitting there, working. She responded by having her window open, too." - u/7hr0w_4w4y_
It seems as though these two might have watched "American Beauty" a few too many times. Alternatively, this is, probably, not the story that they'll be wanting to tell their grandchildren of how they first got together.