Awful Neighbors
Sometimes, we meet neighbors that are so lovely, kind, and helpful, we can’t believe we went through life before without them—these are NOT these neighbors. In fact, these neighbors are the absolute worst the world has to offer.
From backyard antics to driveway shenanigans, these horrible next-door neighbors had us wanting to move far, far away.
1. Caught Red-Handed
A couple of months back, I began to notice that my internet speed was getting slower. Just today, I got hold of a Wi-Fi scanner for my mobile, and what do you know? There showed up three devices, all mobiles, I did not recognize.
That frustrated me so much since my slow speed was coming in the way of my movie and game downloads and causing lag. That's when I thought it best to switch up the password.
About a quarter-hour after the change, I overheard some neighborhood kids start squawking about their internet going off and how they can't get back online. I couldn't believe it!
Did they seriously think I'd never catch on that they've been piggybacking off my Wi-Fi?
2. A Family Affair
I'm sharing a story from a time when I was both a school teacher and combat veteran. My wife was a teacher too. About 12 years back, we bought our first house in a neighborhood made up mostly of working-class families.
Our house had a backyard pool, and we received a hot tub as a wedding gift from our folks.
Only two weeks after settling in, we came home to a disturbing sight. A woman and six teenagers were having a swim in our pool! We'd never met them before but ended up learning that the woman was the mother of two amongst them, who we'll refer to as the Entitled Daughter and the Entitled Son.
When we asked them to leave, the mom stated that they had the previous owner's permission to use the pool whenever. I made it clear that I was now the owner, and I wasn't okay with this. The lady didn't take this well and melodramatically accused us of being selfish and held us responsible if her kids suffered from heatstroke. I couldn't believe her response.
She yelled and faked cried, saying I was being a bad neighbor, selfish, and forcing her kids to sweat in the summer heat. She told me that if they got heatstroke, it was my fault for not letting them swim in my pool.
I told her to get the heck off my property and never return. Fast forward two weeks. I had put up a "No Trespassing" sign on my property in multiple spots and had gotten to know many of the not-entitled neighbors.
They warned us about the entitled family but advised us to ignore them. This is when things took a strange turn. We started noticing left-behind signs of the nighttime use of our pool and hot tub in our absence. This led us to install surveillance cameras, which confirmed our suspicions of the family exploiting our facilities secretly while we were away.
My wife and I decided to take matters into our own hands and teach the family a lesson. On the upcoming Friday night, we parked our cars on a different street, creating the illusion of us being out. As expected, the daughter, son, and their friends arrived and began enjoying our pool and hot tub.
After waiting 45 minutes while they got comfortable, my wife switched on the backyard lights and I boldly stepped outside with my piece, ready to confront them but not harm them. My wife immediately called the authorities.
The kids were stunned and didn't attempt to react for a while. However, when they asked for their clothing, I knew I didn't want to keep it from them. But there was a twist. I then walk over to their piles of clothing, phones, and purses and throw EVERYTHING into the pool. They freak out trying to save their phones and other goods. The officers arrived shortly after, and after I clarified the entire situation, they took the trespassers away.
Then came the very best part. The mother arrived just in time to see her kids being put into cruisers and demanded that the children be released. The officers needed to threaten her with detention to make her leave us alone. Eventually, the teenagers received minimal punishment of community service, fines, and probation, and we got a restraining order against them.
We also sent the mother a bill for $400 to cover the costs of pool cleaning and repair, threatening action if she failed to pay within a month.
She paid up, and a year later, the troublesome family moved away, bringing an end to an eventful chapter in our lives.
3. What She Does In The Shadows
I installed a doorbell camera yesterday. Since then, my sleep-deprived neighbor has been setting off motion alerts, 45 to be precise.
Among them, one surprising event was her tumble down the stairs—finally explaining the regular thud sounds I've been hearing in the hallway. The alerts haven't ceased coming in yet.
Interestingly, she also spends random lengths of time standing and peering at our front door. Makes me curious about how long she's been up to this!
Flickr, D Thompson4. Doggone It
My neighbors' children have a habit of letting out high-pitched screams that may sound like they're in terrible pain. My service dog isn't much of a fan; he'll bark three quick warning barks in response, and I don't stop him.
The dog's bark may startle the kids a bit, but it effectively quiets their screams. These children don't just yell, they shriek as if they're under some dreadful torment.
In a situation like this, both the dog and I feel a genuine concern. The dog, perceiving those tiny humans to be in distress, feels compelled to help.
Typically, I'll let him out; he goes to the fence we share with the neighbors, barks a few times until the screaming stops, and then calmly lies down beside the fence.
From where I stand, it seems my dog manages the children's noise better than their actual mother. Just this morning, the same situation unfolded—the dog did his bit, the kids silenced. But then, I heard one child start to cry, which marked the beginning of quite an ordeal. Their mum came to my place, teetering on the edge of anger. I greeted her courteously, eager to know what was wrong.
She claimed that my dog had frightened her children to which I reasoned—"Well, he was worried. Your kids were screaming so loudly that it sounded as if they were hurt. This screaming is quite a regular thing".
This only angered her further as she insisted her kids were just being kids. I countered, "
No, listen, I am a kindergarten teacher and a mother myself—your kids are unnaturally loud to the point where they're alarming the neighbors with their constant screaming".
She fired back, defiantly claiming her kids weren't being that loud. I offered to show some footage from my porch ring that captured her kids' decibel-breaking screams. Things took a turn for the worst. She even threatened to get my dog taken away. This dog, being a seizure alert canine trained by a nearby academy, had nothing but the best of training.
You could clearly see from the footage that after his three warning barks, he just sat down, clearly not intending to threaten anyone.
I made it clear to her that she could attempt this, but also suggested she teach her kids to not scream as if they’re in a horror movie. She left, more exasperated than before.
Following this incident, I contacted the local dog trainer to provide a heads-up just in case she made any unfounded allegations against my dog.
It's a good thing that I have ring cameras installed throughout my home. This way, my husband can keep tabs on my seizures, and I can accurately verify my dog's actions as needed.
