If there's one universally accepted truth is that there's no middle ground of what kind of neighbor you'll get. Unless you have the finances of a Russian oligarch to allow yourself a quiet and remote corner of the earth (somewhere in New Zealand, we suppose), it's a Wheel of Fortune where most spaces are occupied by 'Karens', the no-poop-picker-uppers or the late-night lone ravers that are weirdly obsessed with online shopping and ("accidentally") going through your mail.
Apparently, there's now a type of folks next-doors that will take advantage of your neighborly generosity to make you their personal 'grocery list' with feet. Convenient? Yes. Shameless? Totally.
As the user u/Tiny-Charity tells it, she's a single, working mom who lives in a rental house next to a married couple. All seemed normal before the stay-at-home wife, who also happens to get the mail for both houses, sent the author of the story her grocery shopping list right before Thanksgiving.
Feeling festive and thankful, the mom obliged to help her last-minute neighbor with some things she had. It's Thanksgiving after all, right? And it would make for a sweet neighborly story if not for the fact that this continued to happen week after week. From a 20-thing lists to 80, without any offer to be paid back. Culminating with a face-to-face confrontation just to be called a jerk for not being able to help your 401k neighbors when you're receiving 'Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program' (or 'SNAP, formerly food stamps) assistance.
As the author-writer Maris Kreizman once put it in her Atlantic article: "Anyone who chooses to live in such close proximity to others knows how important it is to create boundaries and respect one another’s privacy." That sounds nice. But when you're manipulated into feeling like a lousy neighbor for something you were kind of forced into? That's a tricky situation only the mighty ‘Am I The A**hole’ subreddit can straighten out.
Feeling Thanksgiving spirit, a single working mom helped her last-minute neighbor with some groceries
Image credits: Viki Mohamad (not the actual photo)
Soon, one little favor escalated into an entire operation that left the mom baffled
Not only does she read the author's mail but also used the benefits she gets as a single mother to prove something
Image credits: Tiny-Charity
Here's what people had to say about the situation
