Parenting,Social IssuesJUL 18, 2023

Woman Finds A Way To Get Neighbors’ Kids To Shut Up, The Whole Neighborhood Now Uses The Method

Ilona Baliūnaitė and Rokas Laurinavičius

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Summer is a wonderful time to be outside. But when Reddit user SpookyGirl0123 tried to wind down in her backyard, she was disturbed by her neighbors' kids.

And it wasn't a one-time thing, either. The three siblings would constantly annoy the living hell out of everyone in the area. Even worse, their parents refused to do anything about it.

So SpookyGirl0123 took matters into her own hands. She decided to fight fire with fire and whenever the little ones would start a ruckus, she would respond with really loud music. According to her post on the subreddit r/pettyrevenge, it worked!

This woman got sick and tired of her neighbors' kids constantly screaming their lungs out

Image credits: Meryl Cusinato (not the actual photo)

One of the reasons why this post may have gone so viral could be the fact that for many, it should be pretty easy to relate to it. A study examining people's relationships with their neighbors discovered that over a third of those polled (36 percent) have had issues that escalated into full-blown arguments, with a quarter stating that they have a long-running feud with someone living close to them.

According to research commissioned by Homes.com, the most common reason for an argument is over parking, followed closely by animal noise, general noise and various disputes over garbage.

That might explain why over 40 percent of Americans try to avoid their errant neighbors intentionally (Northeast neighbors were more than twice as likely to say their neighbors are rude when compared to the Southwest).

The biggest reason for avoidance was simply being too busy to invest time into fostering these relationships; however, thinking the people next door are weird, simply not getting along with them or feeling they are too nosy are also common reasons most avoid a chat.

Terrible neighbors can drive people away from an otherwise perfectly good area

Image credits: Ernst-Günther Krause (NID) (not the actual photo)

Nosy neighbors were a major factor in the survey, with 20 percent of respondents suspecting their neighbor spies on them in one way or another.

As much as we love our homes, not-so-neighborly interactions sometimes become a catalyst to move, with one in six (16 percent) having actually moved in part because of a neighbor, while a further 20 percent are either currently considering it or have seriously thought about it in the past.

Grant Simmons, Vice President at Homes.com, said, "We often hear location, location, location as a key consideration of where we choose to live and neighbors are a large part of that location component."

"Nothing enhances or diminishes a community’s attraction as much as the residents themselves, especially in areas where a neighbor’s behavior can directly impact those around them."

Top ten things that lead Americans to argue with a neighbor are:

Noise;
Parking;
General noise;
Trash/mess;
Animal noise;
Yelling or screaming;
Privacy issues;
Animal waste;
Property lines;
Family conflict.

However, not all neighbors are bad

Image credits: RDNE Stock project (not the actual photo)

But not all neighborhoods are at war with each other. Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of respondents said they have neighbors who they consider to be friends, 3 in 10 trust their neighbors a lot, and 86 percent of people do rate themselves as either a good or very good neighbor.

While the popular stereotype suggests people who live in cities tend to be less neighborly, the results of the survey reveal city people are almost twice as likely to regularly hang out with their neighbors, while people who live in rural communities tend to avoid their neighbors compared to their counterparts in the city and suburbs.

Hopefully, SpookyGirl0123 and her neighbors will find a way to sort everything out, too.