I like to think I’m a good neighbor. I am pleasant and courteous. I do little things like pick up litter to keep the street clean and blow off my neighbors sidewalks when I am doing mine. I don’t make much noise.
When I see a neighbor who might need help, I am quick to offer it with a smile.
I have one next-door neighbor who has gotten under my skin. She’s not a bad neighbor, by any stretch. She’s quiet and keeps to herself. She never says hello unless I say it first. I think she’s got some social anxiety issues.
Even though she’s never asked me, I keep an eye on her home when she’s out of town. I’ve offered to help her with various projects I’ve seen her working on, but she always turns me down.
This neighbor has only initiated conversations with me a few times.
The first time was to ask if I played the drums. When I said yes, she immediately complained that my drumming was a problem because she could hear me in her office. In response, I moved my drums to another part of my home, soundproofed the room, limited my paying to one hour in the late afternoon and eventually purchased an electronic drum kit that can be played at an extremely low volume. I even verified with her several times to make sure she was no longer hearing me play.
When I cut my lawn, I trim a 2 ft. strip of her grass and edge her driveway that abuts my lawn. It takes me 2 minutes. This is technically her property, but because we have weird lot lines, our front lawns are not “square” with our property lines.
It’s no big deal. At least to me.
There was a large weed growing out from the side of her house from a crack between the sidewalk and foundation for weeks. It was about 3 feet high and surrounded by smaller weed shoots. When I was doing the lawn, I cut down the weed with my weed whacker for her.
Well, yesterday, she initiated a conversation with me for the 2nd times in two years by saying, “Did you get a little ambitious with your weed whacker yesterday?” And I thought, “What did I do wrong here? This was clearly an out of control weed. It wasn’t a flower. It wasn’t somethings she had planted.”
Then I realized I hadn’t come back with my blower to clean up the cut weeds. I smacked my hand to my forehead snd said, “I’m so sorry, I forgot to return to clean it up after trimming it.”
She replied, “You don’t need worry about trimming my weeds,” making it clear she did not appreciate that I had cut down her one, 3 ft tall overgrown weed.
Give me a break. Really?
I mean, I get it – sort of. It is her property. Some people are very particular about things. However, this was clearly just a weed growing out of the foundation. Nor was it in some place where I had to violate her privacy to trim it. I didn’t open her gate, enter her yard, or some obviously delineated private space.
It was growing literally 2 feet from where I weed whack and it butts up against my lawn. And more importantly – I was just doing something nice for her.
It really upset me.
Then I thought – I need to get back to working out. This is a non-issue that shouldn’t upset me so much. I just have too much unexpended energy right now.
But that said, I’m done with her. I’ll be cordial going forward and say hello if we pass each other on the street. Otherwise, I’m avoiding her and will do her no favors. She clearly doesn’t appreciate it nor is she interested in any kind of neighborly interaction.
As for the next time she initiates conversation with me, I suspect my response will be a little colder anticipating another complaint about some minor issue.
Bah humbug.