You know, I've been dreaming of living in a house with a pool for almost my entire adult life. I haven't had the chance yet, but the best is yet to come. Although, if you read a lot of pool-related stories from here, there and everywhere, you can't help but wonder - is it really worth it?
So, here's another story about a pool and entitled neighbors, initially told in the r/entitledparents community. On how a person bought a house with a pool (damn, I'm already jealous...) - and almost immediately ran into problems (maybe I’m not jealous...). However, let's just read on.
More info: Reddit
The author of the post recently bought a house with a pool out back - and with some entitled neighbors too
Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The very first day, the neighbor lady approached the author and announced that the previous owners used to let her kids swim in the pool
Image credits: anonymous
Image credits: shurkin_son / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The author didn't mind but the lady went further, demanding they watch the kids, since 'she has no time' to do this
Image credits: anonymous
The author didn't say anything to this, but they strongly decided to change the gate locks to avoid any possible incidents
So, the Original Poster (OP) says that they recently bought a new house with a pool out back - and on the first evening in the new place, when, having done a bunch of work in the yard, they sat down by the pool with a beer, the neighbor lady approached them from the other side of the fence to basically ruin all the fun for the author.
The lady obviously knew how to manipulate people, so she started the convo by saying that the previous owners allowed her kids to swim in the pool. The original poster simply shrugged - after all, they had no idea what kind of relationship those people had with their neighbors. But the woman then went on...
According to this decent lady, her children are now suffering because they can't enjoy the pool like they used to. The original poster was starting to feel guilty, so they said they wouldn't mind if the kids came to swim one day. But only under the supervision of their mom or any other adult relative.
And here the woman showed her true colors. She stated that: a) she doesn't have time to look after the kids in the pool; b) the previous neighbors were perfectly happy to look after the kids; c) it would be very nice if the original poster followed the example of these wonderful people and looked after the kids too.
She went back into the house, and the original poster felt both guilty and confused. Probably, now it will be necessary to change the locks on the gate - after all, the author suspects that the neighbor still has the keys from the previous neighbors. And they definitely don’t want the neighbors' kids to swim in their pool unsupervised.
Image credits: cookie_studio / Freepik (not the actual photo)
"Unfortunately, the presentation of information at the very beginning of the conversation already allows us to conclude that they tried to manipulate this person. To evoke an unmotivated feeling of guilt - and only then play on these feelings, push their buttons, trying to achieve the desired effect," says Maria Kryvosheeva, a psychologist and NLP coach, whom Bored Panda asked for a comment here.
"After all, it was quite obvious that the neighbor's main task there was not so much to get permission for her children to swim in the pool, but to have the neighbor also look after them. And, having felt concessions on the first question, she immediately moved on to the second."
"The interesting thing is that this woman probably sincerely believes that her new neighbors are simply obligated to do her these favors. That's how it works in her head. So changing the lock before she does the further actions would be a really smart move," Maria summarizes.
People in the comments to the original post also urged the author to change the lock as soon as possible. "Change your gate lock. Also make sure you have an explicitly clear conversation with her," someone wrote reasonably. "Do not let this person's children swim in your pool, even with supervision,” another person added. “If anything happens, they are the type to sue. Protect yourself, please."
Well, the author, by their own words in the comments, took the advice to heart. “I am adding ‘no trespassing’ signs today. Seeing my lawyer tomorrow for recommendations on this. Probably also going to take the gate out so it's just a solid fence,” the OP responded. This is probably the best decision in this situation. And what do you think about this?
People in the comments praised the author for this decision, warning them from any reckless actions too
Image credits: lifeforstock / Freepik (not the actual photo)
