Comments on: Prepare your hi-diddly-hole, neighborino

By: L

Sat, 15 Dec 2012 03:50:29 +0000

No matter what caused it, the note-writer certainly does seem to lack basic knowledge of human nature – specifically, our inherent contrariness. For every five neighbours who see that note and decide to dismiss the writers as anti-social, there’s probably going be one, like Kirby and others, who will go out of their way to present them with neighbourly jello.

While I am definitely introverted (I hate small-talk, and I will go to silly extremes to avoid it), there is a line between being introverted and being rude. There is even a difference between being brusque and efficient in your social interactions to keep them short, and being a dismissive asshole (although of course YMMV).

Anyone with sense will realise that being this rude will just make people pay extra attention to you – and furthermore, they will know exactly what gets under your skin.

In my opinion, if someone is as dense as to leave a note like this, they are just asking for it. I’m not saying it’s RIGHT – I’m saying it’s simply human nature.

By: Roger

Roger — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 23:41:13 +0000

I have to believe that the best way of being on the receiving end of this note would be to stop by and ask for directions, what the weather will be like in the near future, etc.

Nice blog you have here.

By: Looper

Looper — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 16:56:58 +0000

Kermit, if you ask somebody to leave and they do not leave, it is within your rights to call the police as it’s private property and they are trespassing. Even if you are a mere renter, that’s the law. If it’s a recurring theme of someone showing up every day, the case is even stronger. It’s completely legal and while it may tie up the police’s time over “ridiculous” matters, well, I’m not the one trespassing on someone else’s property over their hurt widdle feelings of being unwanted by the neighbors.

By: redheadwglasses

redheadwglasses — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 18:34:48 +0000

” It gets a bit frustrating when those cars block the one-lane roads in the neighborhood and force you to drive on the sidewalk or median.”

Wait, what? You TOLERATE people parking in a way that blocks road access? Call the cops, get ‘em towed. Driving in the sidewalk is not the answer. Duh.

By: redheadwglasses

redheadwglasses — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 18:21:49 +0000

Absolutely, Dan. Vulpis’s reading comprehension is below a grade schooler’s.

By: redheadwglasses

redheadwglasses — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 18:17:17 +0000

How about instead of “Open House,” change it to “inside garage sale”! (I held an indoors garage sale in my basement one winter — we put an ad in the paper and signs up, and the garage sale junkies overwhelmed us!)

By: redheadwglasses

redheadwglasses — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 18:16:02 +0000

Vulpis, NO ONE HERE has said “it’s okay to harass a neighbor who wants to be left alone.” And “obstruct” their property? You mean park on the street?

You’re an idiot.

By: Clumber

Clumber — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 18:07:10 +0000

Roto13 – *ironically that’s how we keep visitors away from our front door.

Well okay, it’s our dogs’ shit on the lawn, but similar premise anyhow.

*not really ironic, just 10,000 forks when you wanted a spoon

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 18:59:29 +0000

This isn’t a sign on their property. They went out of their way to interact with other people, specifically to tell those people they don’t want to interact with them.

Writing it off is mere introversion (and I too am an introvert, people exhaust me, and when I get home from work I just want to be left alone), doesn’t fly.

Now I’m more prone to find it as an over response to a specific neighbor. I work two jobs, and have exceptionally limited time to do my “chores” around the house. So when I’m out there raking leaves, and my busybody neighbor decides she wants to chat (ie gossip) for 20 minutes, it leaves me with a choice of being ‘rude’, (as she ignores my polite attempts to get back to work), or losing as much time as she feels entitled to.

That said, most of my neighbors understand the 60 second rule (if you run into a neighbor outside, you have no more than 60 seconds of pleasantries before you’re overstaying your welcome). It allows me to know my neighbors and to be on a friendly plane with them, without having to give up too much time.

And it works. When my neighbor’s snow thrower wouldn’t start last year, I took a half hour to do their driveway. He then helped me out when I needed a jump one morning. Even with this, I know his name, his wife’s name, and the color of their house; and nothing else.

It’s the perfect mix of socialization and privacy.

By: ninjaduck

ninjaduck — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 16:11:43 +0000

I think they need someone to talk to.

By: JoDa

JoDa — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 03:00:34 +0000

Just blast some kind of music they’re sure to hate at 2 AM. They like rap? Classical it is. Metal? Won’t you “call me maybe?” Not that I’ve ever done this…cough.

By: JoDa

JoDa — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 02:57:38 +0000

In many larger cities, and even smaller post-war cities and suburbs designed for households that owned one or no cars, street parking is a pain. However, GET OVER IT. If you want a guaranteed parking spot, build one, on your property. Yes, common courtesy is still in effect. If there’s a boatload of snow, don’t use the parking spot someone dug out for more than a few minutes (I have gotten in fights with people over using “someone’s” parking spot for only a minute or two while getting stuff out of/in to the car I’m using, so do give a little grace for someone to pull in, load/unload, and go). Don’t “storage park” numerous cars you don’t use on the street. Etc.

However, realize that parking is not “yours.” I used to own a car as well as an off-street parking spot. None of my neighbors ever said a peep about me parking my car on the street when it was more convenient for me to do so (the parking lot is around back, so it’s more convenient to park on the street to load/unload for example). BUT, once I sold that car and started relying on hourly rentals, friends, and cabs (for the things I used to do by car…I was always a transit rider for 90% of what I do), they FREAK THE F OUT if I park my rental, or one of my friends parks in front of my house, or a cab pulls up, for even a few minutes. It’s a public street, and it’s not like I’m leaving a car that isn’t mine out there for days, or even hours. Outside of having friends over MAYBE 3 or 4 times a year, there are no vehicles associated with my house parked on the street for more than 20 minutes, and even when I have friends over, it’s only 2 or 3 cars and for a few hours (and, might I add, no one complains about THEIR visitors). Entitlement and all that, undeserved as it is…

By: The Elf

The Elf — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 02:48:06 +0000

You’re not the only introvert around, Looper. I like my privacy too, but basic friendliness to your neighbors is not only easy but also pays off it there is trouble later. Strangely, even though I say “Hi” to them, they still respect my privacy. Imagine that!

By: JoDa

JoDa — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 02:36:33 +0000

Yep, good neighbors are your first line of defense. While I greatly prefer my “get to know you as we see each other on the street” neighborhood I live in now, I held no ill will against my neighbors in my old neighborhood who rounded up the welcome wagon 2 days after I moved in to drop by and say “hi.” It’s not like they insisted on inviting themselves over for dinner, they just wanted to say their pleasantries, and that ended up paying dividends when someone tried to break into my house while I was home and I could send out a text to all of the neighbors right after calling 911, resulting in the would-be burglar being apprehended in a neighbor’s yard. Not to mention having easy access to someone who could move my car in case of an emergency if I was out of town. You don’t need to be BFFs with your neighbors to reap the benefits of having a decently cordial relationship with them,