Great. Just freakin' great

[elfs]

So, now Kouryou-chan's afraid to leave the house because she thinks the neighbors are going to yell at her.

Our property sits on a hill, and the new neighbors are slightly down the grade from us. Whenever it rains, the water runs down the road and, if it rains hard enough, overslops the ridge on the edge of their property, dumping pine needles down their driveway. This is simply a fact of nature.

This afternoon, Kouryou-chan and one of the other kids were playing in a stream of water that was running down the road from the neighbors slightly up the grade from us, and the Woman Of The House (tm) comes running out and yells at them. Not asks them to stop, yells at them. That's her first instinct. Then, she turns to me and says, "Don't be making a mess of my yard."

"Excuse me?"

"Don't get fucking rude with me!" she shouts.

"I haven't said a word yet."

"Just don't get rude with me, okay?" And then she stalks off. I was completely baffled. Omaha went and had words with her, since she handles confrontation better than I do, and her response when she came back was, "We're moving. I'm not living next to people who expect the worst of their neighbors." Apparently, it's our fault that nature dumps pine needles on her driveway, and not the fact that they chose a nice house with a pine-lined easeway.

I can't help but wonder how long they'll be able to live in that house with all that rental gear. Hopefully, not long. I don't want my child to be a prisoner in her own home because our neighbors are psycho.

Comments

I've known people like that...

[(Anonymous)]

For some reason I imagine 'current music' should be something to the effect of, say, Dueling Banjos or maybe something from Deliverance... or something else appropriately redneck.

I had neighbors of similar ilk recently. They moved in with two huge dogs (approximately 60 and 90 pounds) and immediately tied them up outside their back door. While the dogs were gentle, they barked -- loudly and at great length -- at the slightest moving thing. As a result, none of my eleven other neighbors allowed their children to use the back yard area anymore. No more slip-and-slide, no more lawn chairs, no more communal back-yard barbecues, it all vanished.

The last straw were threats of violence from their teenage son. I quickly involved the police -- and the management of the complex -- but nothing came of it since nothing tangible had yet happened. Since it was an apartment we were inhabiting, my wife and I packed up and moved.

It's surprising how completely unrelated people behave in such a similar manner; they move in somewhere, claim as much territory as they can get away with and complain at the most minimal perceived slight. Perhaps they think they'll have the upper hand if they complain first because then, if you complain about something they're doing, you're only complaining out of spite and to get revenge.

(By the way, those 'fridges still outside?)

Perhaps you could (if you haven't already) make friends with their landlord? Have him (her?) over for dinner, let them see what's become of their property. Hopefully these socially-challenged individuals won't be long for your neighborhood.

Best of luck with this, hope they haven't caused any lasting scars for your beautiful daughters!

Bryan.

Re: I've known people like that...

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Yes, the 'fridges are still outside. And over lunch, they watched some movie on their Big Rental Plasma Screen so loud that Omaha and I had to look up and wonder if there was gunfire coming from the house, followed by shouts of "Motherfucker, watch the fucking dogs!" and barking and screaming. I mean, this was scary loud. Later, when they chilled with beers, they listened to Sir MixALot's "I Like Big Butts" at a similar volume.

Did I mention that the two children by the boyfriend, both under the age of three, are steeping in this stuff?

Damn, I tempted to dig out every gay pride bumper sticker I own and put them on my car.

Re: I've known people like that...

[(Anonymous)]

To use a common acronym, OMFG.

If only it were quite as simple for you to escape that situation as it was for us.

It sounds like they're using that site about the 'redneck neighbor' (http://web.archive.org/web/20040727020207/http://www.knology.net/~carlos/redneck.htm) as a how-to guide. (Eek!)

Why is it that intelligent people plan for children and take great care in their upbringing, while those not quite so gifted are trying to drown us by sheer numbers? That sort of decision should be discouraged... and yet we must "think of the children" and provide for their "welfare".

Excuse me, I'm going to go sit in a corner and twitch for a while now.

Bryan.

Okay, this is a test...

[(Anonymous)]

Let's see, I checked "Don't auto-format" in that last post, and it screwed up my link. If I left it un-checked, it was screwed up in the preview.

Let's see what a normal "A HREF" does when I let it go with automatic formatting...

redneck neighbor (http://web.archive.org/web/20040727020207/http://www.knology.net/~carlos/redneck.htm)

(Okay, this time it's not screwing up the auto-preview. Go figure.)

Re: Okay, this is a test...

[(Anonymous)]

Forget it. LiveJournal doesn't like me. I give up, I can't win.

Bryan.

Re: Okay, this is a test...

[tagryn]

Don't know if LJ doesn't like your browser or computer, but both the a href and /a need to be in brackets, not parentheses, for it to work. Like this:
redneck neighbor

do "view source" on that to see what I mean. Hope that helps.

Re: Okay, this is a test...

[(Anonymous)]

(not the same anon as above, I'm the one that posted the original redneck neighbor link)

No, it's because of the filtering the LJ does to anon posts.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Time to, alas, teach poor Kouryou-chan to stick up for herself. *sigh*

Yeah, this is where the good fight gets dirty. The rules are: whatever you can get away with. Hit'em with everything you can think of: Landlord, health, DSHS, all's fair in love and war and this ain't love, dear hearts.

Good luck, and good hunting.

[edichka2.livejournal.com]

Nasty problem. The solution list might include (1) moving to an expensive gated community to avoid that sort of riffraff, and (2) moving to a place where there are such riffraff but the next house is a quarter mile away so it doesn't matter so much (the option we chose).

Good luck.

- Eddie

[casualprofessor.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't declare war yet; I've been in a couple of neighbor spats before. From my 2-D view here on the Right Coast, your neighbors are a bit crazier than you, and that suggests that in a cold war you'll end up responding to their provocations.

Within boundaries, you can enforce the law - those refrigerators are an egregious example. Actions shouldn't just be between you and them - involve others, if they'll permit it.

I would love to know what happened with omahas's march across the divide ...

[riverheart.livejournal.com]

If you ask me, I think you folks should move *anyway*...

[(Anonymous)]

"Wherever you go, there they are."

I would first imagine your house in your mind and form a solid, honest opinion on whether the house is your 'home'.

If this is your home.. you need to protect your home and family from the influences of individuals such as your neighbors carefully, methodically, and cleverly, while using yourself as an example to your family on how to deal with this situation should it arise for them when you are not there.

If this is not your home, then I would suggest finding one.