Although she’s embarrassed to admit it now, Kristi in Portland confesses that when she wrote this letter, at age 14, she felt oh-so-very-grown-up.
In retrospect, she says, the most ridiculous part — besides the charmingly pretentious tone throughout — is probably the self-made letterhead. “I guess I thought the frog made for a good personal logo or something,” Kristi says. ”To my credit, I didn’t send the letter anonymously…I included my full name (first, middle and last), my address, my phone number AND my e-mail address. I only left off my Social Security number!”
Adds Kristi: “My parents still live next door to these neighbors, and I avoid them to this day! Oh, and yes, they did try to keep their dogs indoors more after I sent the letter.”
related: Your to lazy
107 responses so far ↓
#1
Esther
I didn’t think your letter was pretentious. It was actually very mature. Those damned neighbors. I also liked that you had the balls to go and ring their doorbell.
Jun 14, 2010 at 7:22 pm rating: 90
#2
Kat
I think after a reasonable attempt at in-person communication has been made(you did so) the doorway to PA notewriting is perfectly acceptable. This is actually a pretty polite note explaining the situation reasonably.
TEAM NOTEWRITER!
Jun 14, 2010 at 7:29 pm rating: 90
#3
Zoe
I love your letter! It’s so 14-year old channeling their mature self. Cute
Jun 14, 2010 at 7:32 pm rating: 90
#4
Heather
I don’t think this is inappropriate in any way. In fact, for a 14 yr old, WOW! This is way more mature than what I am tempted to do in such situations!
Jun 14, 2010 at 7:37 pm rating: 90
#5
BeBe
I can’t stand dogs that bark endlessly either. If they have a good reason to bark, that’s one thing but to just bark for the sake of barking…
Makes me crazy!!
Good for you!!!
Jun 14, 2010 at 7:40 pm rating: 90
#6
Nack
Yup. I don’t sense a bit of pretentious or passive-aggressive in this. You said, “Look, I can’t sleep, deal with your dogs.” And said it in a nice way! And that was -after- you went over, and rang the bell trying to have a face-to-face. If only adults could muster half the maturity you put into this, at just 14!
And look, you didn’t even use a curse word, so proud of you. Usually teenagers think they invented foul language.
Jun 14, 2010 at 7:49 pm rating: 90
#7
Sesquipedalian
Team 14-year-old Kristi!
Jun 14, 2010 at 7:52 pm rating: 90
#8
Team Kristi
My downstairs neighbors have barking dogs and it is infuriating. Hooray for anyone who has the guts to complain about it, no matter how passive-aggressively.
Jun 14, 2010 at 8:01 pm rating: 90
#9
Lurker
Hmm, a 14-year-old with an email address included in a letter in 1996? Says something for the socioeconomic status of the letter writer, as does the latent sense of entitlement present in the pretentiousness.
While I would probably have written a similar letter at 14, and had an email address in 1996, I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that Kristi might have been going to a nice private school and living a pretty good life when she acquired such effective communication skills.
Team Rich Little Girl.
Jun 14, 2010 at 8:03 pm rating: 90
#10
Amy
Hah, I kind of want to print out this letter and put it on my neighbors door with their constantly yapping dog
Jun 14, 2010 at 8:06 pm rating: 90
#11
Rachel
I’m so on Team Kristi! I love your letter.
Jun 14, 2010 at 8:15 pm rating: 90
#12
Michelle
I’ve got neighborhood cats who, lately, really enjoy getting frisky in the backyard at night. Every time I hear them, I wish I had a gun. (Should I be ashamed to admit this? I’m not, sadly.) So, props to your 14-year-old self for being a LOT more mature than my 27-year-old self.
Jun 14, 2010 at 8:28 pm rating: 90
#13
lolsuz
Count me in on Team Kristi as well. Kudos to you for a letter well-written! If you neighbors had ANY character at all, they would have come to see you directly upon receiving your letter- to shake your hand. Then again, if they had any character at all they wouldn’t let their dogs bark all damned night, either.
Jun 14, 2010 at 8:39 pm rating: 90
#14
pilgrimchick
That is a GREAT letter, and very articulate for a 14 year old. Good for her.
Jun 14, 2010 at 8:47 pm rating: 90
#15
Will
I agree, this letter wasn’t pretentious at all. Besides, it did the job didn’t it? I would call that effective writing! Score 1 Kristi, neighbors from hell, 0.
Jun 14, 2010 at 9:07 pm rating: 90
#16
Jess
Really? How in the world is this passive? This just sounds like a spoiled little latch-key kid to me.
Jun 14, 2010 at 9:14 pm rating: 90
#17
dd
I’m impressed. You tried one-on-one communication and that didn’t work so you wrote a to-the-point letter.
You didn’t cast aspersions on their character, you identified a problem, told how it affected you, and suggested some possible solutions.
I bet their other neighbors would’ve hugged you if they’d known you were the one to make the problem less bad.
Jun 14, 2010 at 9:43 pm rating: 90
#18
Canthz_B
So, clip-art of a barking dog inside of a red circle/diagonal line was out of the question then?
Jun 14, 2010 at 10:05 pm rating: 90
#19
eli
I was 14 in 1996 and I’m from Portland… eerie.
That’s my important input.
Jun 14, 2010 at 10:05 pm rating: 90
#20
Name
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I STARTED high school at 15. I was a sophomore at 16. She was 14? And wrote like this? And I don’t think it’s pretentious at all.
Jun 14, 2010 at 10:24 pm rating: 90
#21
bowloftoast
Little did 14-year-old Kristi know that sleep deprivation and borderline insanity would become a way of life on reaching college age.
Jun 14, 2010 at 10:33 pm rating: 90
#22
jen
I think that letter is very well written, especially for a 14 year old! And you obviously were doing well in school – your syntax, punctuation and grammar are excellent!
Jun 14, 2010 at 11:57 pm rating: 90
#23
TippingCows
Nice letter – and there is nothing worse than irresponsible dog owners. There is such a thing as crate training. Dogs bark because they get bored and/or because they weren’t trained correctly. (i.e. if you want to leave your dogs outside when you go away start by putting them outside when you’re home and teaching them not to bark).
Jun 15, 2010 at 12:44 am rating: 90
#24
Bonnie B
What irony! As I am reading this post, my neighbor’s dog is whining, which has been going on for about half-an-hour already. It is 11:30 pm. I should be sleeping, but his whining was keeping me awake, so I thought I’d surf some ‘net until I’m too tired to stay upright and hopefully will pass out eventually, even as the d*mn dog continues to whine … Maybe I’ll write a letter … ;p
Jun 15, 2010 at 1:36 am rating: 90
#25
Sofar
You know, the more I read this site the more I consider being a light sleeper a character flaw. Light sleepers must be responsible for a disproportionately large percentage of the world’s passive-aggressive notes.
Jun 15, 2010 at 3:00 am rating: 90
#26
KS04
I think the true pretentious nature of this note lies in the fact that Kristi felt obliged to provide her address . . . for her next-door neighbor.
Jun 15, 2010 at 4:07 am rating: 90
#27
Cory
“I was not surprised that you were not home, because I assume that if you were, you would not have tolerated the animals’ behavior.”
This letter is an instant classic.
Jun 15, 2010 at 6:10 am rating: 90
#28
The Elf
May I also point out the proper grammar and correct spelling? Kristi even used apostrophes correctly. Now she just needs to stop spelling her name with an “i” at the end.
We need more PA notes that are written in proper English!
Jun 15, 2010 at 6:47 am rating: 90
#29
Dirk
Kristi seems to be a very mature and sophisticated yound woman.
Jun 15, 2010 at 7:28 am rating: 90
#30
Denise
Love it! The detail into “why” she needs sleep, or how she got done early with homework was hilarious!
I would honestly feel horrible if I got this letter. First, for keeping the poor (although wordy) child up at night. But mostly because she left the house so late at night to confront me about it! She would have gotten an apology personally from me, but then maybe a verbal smack for being out of the house so late.
Then again I wouldn’t have left my dogs outside for that long or at night.
OH and I am in my 30′s and still as wordy as a 14 year old!
LOL Team Kristi!
Jun 15, 2010 at 8:09 am rating: 90
#31
Ryan H
Your neighbors were lucky to have you, and it sounds like they took your note to heart. When my neighbors’ dogs bark incessantly like that over a period of days, I call the cops. That may sound harsh, but it’s what I’ve been advised to do by the police department itself (unless I know and trust those neighbors very well). You never know *why* the dog is barking–is there a domestic disturbance? A burglary? Someone pull a gun? You simply don’t know what you’re walking into.
[The one time I called the cops at 2am to report dogs barking, I felt silly about it but the dispatch said it's their singlemost common call--she said close to 65% of their overnight calls are about dogs. And that in the middle of the night, NEVER to approach a neighbor's house if the dog is barking. It's a safety issue. Better to have the cops come out and inconvenience the neighbors, than to have your head blown off by an antsy owner or worse yet, an intruder.]
Jun 15, 2010 at 9:05 am rating: 90
#32
JS
This letter isn’t funny, or passive aggressive. Not a good addition.
Jun 15, 2010 at 9:45 am rating: 90
#33
MomWhoThinks
Well, I think you did yourself, all the neighbors, and–most importantly–the anxious dogs a favor by speaking up, so, well done!
Team Over-explanatory Kristi!
Jun 15, 2010 at 10:01 am rating: 90
#34
Erin
This was a great letter and very well-written for a 14 year old. I’m glad you had the guts to go over there and ring the doorbell. I hope you have retained some of gumption and ballsiness as an adult!
Jun 15, 2010 at 10:39 am rating: 90
#35
Gladystopia
Count me among those who don’t think this note is terribly P-A.
Now, a flaming bag of dog dung stapled to the note…THAT would be passive-aggressive. (Also smelly, messy, disgusting, and gross; but definitely passive-aggressive.)
Jun 15, 2010 at 11:33 am rating: 90
#36
eyehearta2
So, I’m guessing that was likely the end of the babysitting gig. How *did* you earn your spending money after that?
Jun 15, 2010 at 12:22 pm rating: 90
#37
dave
Kristi seems persnickety person. I think that she would be the excellent candidate for the position of clerk in some bureaucratic office where you have 10 steps rule book for standing up and siting down.
Jun 15, 2010 at 1:06 pm rating: 90
#38
Elisha
This is adorable!
Jun 15, 2010 at 2:32 pm rating: 90
#39
forest_rose
Team Kristi! I think my favourite bit is the first sentence. I must use ‘This must come to an end!’ in correspondence more often.
Jun 15, 2010 at 2:35 pm rating: 90
#40
CLG
I love this letter! It reminds me so much of something I would have done/written at 14. Good times.
Jun 15, 2010 at 2:53 pm rating: 90
#41
Team Kristi
The people opposed to this letter must be be superb dog owners, like Kristi’s neighbors.
Jun 15, 2010 at 5:51 pm rating: 90
#42
mystic_eye
You want to talk passive aggressive?
We used to go to the in-laws house once a week, not the same day of the week, to do our laundry. This would take 2-3 hours. We would bring our dog so he got to run free as we were living in an apartment. We worked in the music industry, we were not morning people so this would be sometime between about 10 and and 5pm
Our dog would bark, if there was a squirrel, which would happen 0-3 times and he would bark less than 1 minute before we silenced him.
The neighbour to one side had 2 yappy dogs.
Some guy, and later we found out it was someone that lived on the street behind, so he had to have come around to find the house number, called animal control. They apparently had nothing better to do (or he called often enough that they gave in).
Now THAT’S passive aggressive.
Jun 15, 2010 at 6:14 pm rating: 90
#43
Escape Goat
My father always used to say, “Pull my finger!” followed shortly by, “Was that a barking frog?”
Coincidence? I think not.
Jun 15, 2010 at 7:23 pm rating: 90
#44
Neeners
Kristi the reason they kept their dogs indoors was because they were afraid you would poison them.
Jun 15, 2010 at 11:00 pm rating: 90
#45
P-A Hater
My favorite part is that she’s from Portland. Having moved here from Chicago, I’m perpetually amazed at how passive-aggressive this town is. I even have the bumper sticker: “Keep Portland passive-aggressive…if you don’t mind.” THIS note is the most direct confrontation of problems I’ve ever seen from a native. Alas, she’s probably outgrown it.
Jun 15, 2010 at 11:34 pm rating: 90
#46
Annoyed as well
Ugh, I hate dogs that bark when I’m trying to sleep! I also hate the headaches that follow. I yearn for a dog-free neighborhood!
Jun 16, 2010 at 7:51 am rating: 90
#47
ManadaBitt
How is it possible that a 14-year-old could write that and only miss one comma? Most adults can’t even do that. Pretty damned impressive, if you ask me.
Jun 16, 2010 at 4:05 pm rating: 90
#48
Lisap
I’m not sure why you are ashamed of this. It’s way more articulate than the majority of the notes that make it on here.
I’m not even sure if it qualifies as passive aggressive: you attempted to address them in person before sending a letter that was not anonymous nor posted in public.
Seems to me like this could be used as a how-to for dealing with annoying neighbours.
P.S. I love the frog, lends you boat loads of credibility.
Jun 16, 2010 at 5:49 pm rating: 90
#49
TJ
I don’t see what’s passive-aggressive about this; the letter was perfectly acceptable: polite, friendly and reasonable.
You stated clearly what the problem was and why, and then offered reasonable solution. Kudos.
Jun 19, 2010 at 7:54 pm rating: 90
#50 Isn’t starting middle school torture enough? | PassiveAggressiveNotes.com
[...] related: Another Portland teen takes on her noisy neighbors [...]
Aug 21, 2011 at 1:22 pm rating: 90
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