If you’re lucky enough to be blessed with neighbors who make your life easier, don’t ever move. Because if you do, there's a risk that your new neighbors will become your worst enemies.
One woman who knows this all too well hopped on Reddit to share the story of how she got back at her entitled neighbor’s “customers.” After her driveway was blocked one too many times, she decided to take matters into her own hands. Below, you’ll find the full story that she posted, as well as a conversation between the author and Bored Panda.
Neighbors who ignore boundaries are incredibly difficult to deal with
One woman opened up about how she got revenge on a neighbor whose "customers" constantly blocked her driveway
Image credits: Remarkable_Panda952
In this day and age, many people aren't even aware of who their neighbors are
Remarkably, many people living in the United States have little to no clue who they’re living next to.
A study conducted by the Pew Research Center found that 57% of Americans only know some of their neighbors, while just 26% know most of them.
Navigating arguments with your neighbors is no easy feat. Tensions can flare. Things can get really awkward really quickly. And there’s lots of frustration when someone can’t seem to grasp basic common-sense things. Alas, common sense is not all that common.
It should be obvious to your neighbor that they and their customers shouldn’t block anyone else’s driveway. It should also be common sense not to insult your neighbors or call them names.
If you’re looking at the long-term ramifications of living in your local area, then you can’t go around being rude to the local community. You need to find a way to live in harmony. Or, well, something at least in the general ballpark of that.
The first step toward resolving any issue with your neighbors, no matter how small or major it might be, is to talk to them about what’s going on.
Explain your side of things. Point out how their behavior affects you. Then, offer them a possible solution.
How you talk to them matters just as much as what you say. You can be firm, but try to stay as calm, cool, and collected as possible.
You don’t want to make it look like you’re accusing them of anything because they’ll only double down.
If you feel like there’s a lot of frustration in the air, you can try being friendlier than usual or using some humor to cut the tension. But that shouldn’t come at the cost of your personal boundaries.
There are various ways to address conflicts in your local area, but there's no guarantee that you'll win
‘Today’ suggests handling conflicts by first calling your neighbors and then picking a time and place to talk. For example, you could suggest that you meet on the sidewalk near your homes or on the property line between you two.
If you’ve avoided any accusations but your suggestions get ignored, you should do some research about your local laws and rights and send them a letter. In it, you should offer some sort of solution to the problem.
(Keeping a paper trail is invaluable, whether you’re dealing with problematic neighbors, sneaky businesses, or improper colleagues.)
Next, you can get in touch with any organizations or companies that manage the properties in your neighborhood. They might be able to advise you on how to move forward. They might also be willing to help mediate the conflict.
If nothing works and you’ve exhausted all other avenues of diplomacy, it might be time to escalate things. You can either get in touch with the local authorities citing your complaints. Alternatively, you can talk to a lawyer and see whether you could potentially take your neighbor to court.
Of course, if the authorities are turning a blind eye to your issues (as in the case of the author’s story), you’re forced to get creative and take matters into your own hands. A quick way to change someone’s behavior is to make it hurt financially. Which is exactly what the author did to her rude dealer of a neighbor.
According to the author, there were other incidents that anyone would find frightening
The author of the viral story told Bored Panda that it’s been 8 years since the incident with the dealer living nearby. “We dealt with issues from the grandson until we left, though not as often after that,” u/Remarkable_Panda952 opened up to us.
“I actually caught up with a different neighbor from that place not too long ago after running into them at the bank, and he was pretty sure they jumped to harder stuff and got arrested for selling fentanyl. It could be just a rumor, but that house was literally on the wrong side of the tracks.”
According to the author, most of the other neighbors kept to themselves, other than the local church people. She confessed that she would rather live next to a dealer than have to live across from that church again.
Unfortunately, there were some pretty scary incidents that u/Remarkable_Panda952 had to deal with. “One time, I had a crazy gal, high as a kite, try throwing herself through our dining window. And there was a guy once with an axe who ran up to the house screaming before running off when I shut off the alarm,” she said.
“As scary as the axe guy was, it was at least in broad daylight and was fleeting. I’d love to say that was the catalyst for us to move, but at the time, we were paying under $800 a month for a 3-bed, 1,400-square-foot house with apple, cherry, almond, plum, lemon, and orange trees... and we rode that out as long as we could,” u/Remarkable_Panda952 said.
“The landlord got rid of us after 7 years, claiming the house needed too much work to fix with tenants, but they just replaced the flooring and more than doubled the rent. According to the neighbor we liked, they still had the house on a fuse box instead of breakers. It’s been trashed multiple times since then, and most of the trees have died. Those fruit trees are the only thing I miss… and the cheap rent.”
Good neighbors keep an eye out for each other
The author told us that the neighbor they caught up with at the bank recently was their definition of a perfect neighbor. “When we moved in, he told us about all the quirks of the house. When our car was hit in front of the house, he hopped in his truck and followed the trail of oil and radiator fluid to find them. It didn’t make up for the neighborhood, but he was great,” she told Bored Panda.
From her perspective, good neighbors keep an eye out for each other and share any excess things that they have. For example, where the author lives now, this means giving away fruit. “I’m pretty sure my Indian neighbors are in love with my garden too ’cause I share everything with them when no one in my house wants more!”
We were curious to get u/Remarkable_Panda952’s take on spotting potential neighbor red flags. “Even if you don’t know them, if you see them and they see you and they don’t wave or something to acknowledge you are there, that feels like an easy red flag to notice, and quickly too.” Other possible red flags include being pestered about inconsequential things, as well as parking across your driveway.
The author opened up to Bored Panda that she subscribes to the idea of getting even with troublemakers instead of getting mad at them. “I'm stressed easily and get anxious over drama, so if I'm going through the hassle of fixing a mess, I'm going to enjoy it. Don't do anything that hurts someone or destroys property, but whatever your solution is, enjoy it and any chaos that comes with it. That's probably not good advice, but it does make life more interesting.”
What did you think of the way the author handled the entire situation, Pandas? What would you have done differently? What’s the worst neighbor you’ve ever had, and how did you deal with them? Let us know in the comments!
As the story went viral, the author responded to readers and shared some more details in the comments
Some even shared similar stories of their own
