We all like to encourage being kind to each other and sharing things with people, because it builds a sense of community and is just a nice thing to do.
However, nobody ever warns you about the cluster-truck that might result after you have shared something with someone because people are complicated creatures and that’s why we can’t have nice things.
One couple shared a story of just that—how they ended up acquiring a piece of land that was historically treated as a neighborhood park, which they were cool with, but then some kids got smeared in some dog dung, leading to some angry parents who got so mad, they had to ruin it for everyone.
More info: Reddit
Dog poop can ruin more than just your day—in this guy's case, it also caused a lot of drama in the neighborhood
Image credits: mslavick (not the actual photo)
A couple in their mid 30s has recently acquired a house with some pretty sweet land attached to it. The previous owners were a childless old couple who would let the neighbors’ kids play and enjoy life in their huge backyard. And once this new couple moved in and the neighbors approached them about this, they were fine with continuing this tradition.
They did, however, point out some guidelines to follow, namely that the if the kids ended up hurting themselves, it wouldn’t be the couple’s fault, and that they wouldn’t be at all expected to watch over them while they played. The neighbors were cool with that.
Usually, they would see groups of kids running around, or kids with adults supervising them without any incidents. All fine and dandy.
A man turned to Reddit to figure out if he was wrong to stop allowing kids to play in his giant backyard
Image credits: u/aitakidslawn
So, one day, the guy’s parents decided to move to a retirement home, which meant that they had now inherited two lovely pooches—an 11-year-old Belgian shepherd and a 12-year-old German shepherd and Belgian mix.
As you might have guessed by now, the dogs became somewhat permanent inhabitants of the backyard. And as you probably might not have guessed, they were good dogs and, no, they had no problems with all of the people coming to visit. The local kids even took them on walks. All was well.
A couple bought a house with a lot of lawn space where the whole neighborhood used to hang out
Image credits: u/aitakidslawn
The point where conflict started was actually when all of the pooping began. Now, the couple did go out into the backyard once a week to scoop up all of the poop, so regular upkeep was established.
However, one day an unknown lady came up to the wife and just went ballistic, demanding they get rid of the dogs. Apparently, her 6-year-old and his friends, who frequented this little park, returned home with their hands smeared in dog poop. Unfortunately, there is no official explanation as to why this happened, but OP speculated in the comments that they were likely playing as there were faces drawn on the tree in poo.
Then two dogs appeared, which left a lot of unsupervised poop that unsupervised kids decided to mess with
Image credits: u/aitakidslawn
Whatever the case, the woman started demanding they get rid of the dogs, or else her kids wouldn’t come over any more and she would press charges for child endangerment. The wife told her off, and pointed out that if she would have simply supervised her kids, this wouldn’t have happened.
One stormed-off Karen later, she returned with a petition with about 6 signatures demanding they get rid of the dogs. The owners of the lovely property did the complete opposite—they simply closed off the area and left a sign explaining why.
And then a wild Karen showed up with demands after one of her 6-year-olds came back home smeared in said poop!
Image credits: u/aitakidslawn
Some of the nice neighbors came by after the incident, begging the couple to change their minds, but they simply don’t want to risk another conflict like this, and they ain’t gonna supervise the kids. Sadly, they are now arguing with the remaining part of the neighborhood who feel it’s unfair everyone is punished because of this one person. This is what prompted the OP to turn to the internet for some perspective.
The folks of Reddit sided with the owners of the land, not just because it’s their land, dogs, and decision, but also because the neighbors should actually be directing their anger at the person who ruined it for them.
People online weren't taking any of it and decided that OP is not at fault here
Besides that, people called the “Karen” super entitled thinking she can just come over and demand someone gets rid of their dogs, putting them into distress.
Yet one other commenter pointed out that on a legal level, if he allows people to play on the land, it is ultimately his own responsibility, no matter what they agree upon, so he can never win in this situation.
The community ruled that OP is not the a-hole, and the post got a modest 5,700 upvotes with a bit over 20 Reddit awards. You can check out the entire post here, but don’t go just yet!
We have a slew of other Am I The A-Hole posts that you can check out here, and you can also share your thoughts on this in the comment section below!